people were killed. and 21 people were shot. this is in three weeks. in three weeks they lost almost 35 people were killed. it could have been stopped f you look at washington, d.c., three weeks ago, it was the same or worse. and now it's considered a totally safe zone. restaurants are opened. they are bustling. restaurants. restaurants were dying. nobody wanted to gut o. they want didn't want to be attacked, mugged. even in the restaurant. and you take a look what's happened. friends of mine that haven't gone to a restaurant in four years, one of them went out five times in the last two weeks to a restaurant with his family. they feel totally safe. washington, d.c., is a totally safe city. you are not reporting any crime because there is none. they said crime -- >> you can continue watching this oval office meeting if you go to our companion network c-span3. we are going to leave it here and take you to the u.s. capitol

where the u.s. house is about to gavel in. this is live coverage on c-span. sovereign god, establish your purpose for this day. that we come to the business of this place with many plans and purposes, our minds filled with cares and concerns and our spirits guided by the best of intentions. none of this will prosper unless we have your blessing. so we humble ourselves under your mighty hand. laying before you all that we could hope for or desire. that you will exalt only that which reveals your graced plan. we cast our worries before you, trusting that you will care for us. into your keeping we commend this day and pray that all that we say and do will bring glory to you. certain of your abiding presence and sure of your salvation we pray in the power of your name. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal

of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house the approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from virginia, mr. vindman. mr. vindman: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: thank you, mr. speaker. illegal alien crossings have fallen to a historic low, with

the fewest arrests by the border patrol at the southern border in july being a 24% drop from the previous record low in june. compared to july, 2024, under biden, this achieves an amazing 92% decrease of illegal aliens and terrorists coming into america. since president donald trump took office, the administration has arrested nearly 150,000 illegal aliens, with 50,000 arrests occurring in just the past eight weeks, as coordinated by border czar tom homan and homeland security secretary kristi noem. republicans are sending a clear message to traffickers, cartels and criminallers, they will be held to the fullest extent of the law. in conclusion, god bless our troops as the global war on terrorism continues. trump is re-instituting existing laws to protect american families with peace through strength, revealing that war criminal putin lies, insulting trump and mocking trump defiantly embracing fellow dictators today in beijing.

as trump correctly interpreted this threatens american families. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. vindman: mr. speaker, i'm honored to recognize this constituent -- this week's constituent of the week, on her work as co-founder, president and c.e.o. of the virginia black chamber of commerce. for over half a decade, ernicia has been leading the chamber and working to foster economic stability for black business owners. serving over 2,700 business owners to date, the chamber has introduced programs throughout virginia that are aimed at strengthening the visibility of black business owners. ernicia, your commitment to your community and continued success serve as an inspiration to us all. as your representative in congress, i'm grateful for the work you do each day in pursuit of economic justice.

congratulations again on your accomplishments. it is a privilege to highlight your story on the floor of the u.s. house. i'm thankful for all that you do. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the dawn of a new college football rivalry in the great state of georgia, the clash of highway 29 between the lagrange college panthers and the point university skyhawks. mr. jack: on saturday, september 6, these two incredible institutions will meet on the grid iron for the very first time. both schools call troop county home and the heart of georgia's third congressional district and less than one hour away from atlanta international airport. founded in 1831, lagrange

college is the oldest private college in georgia and its vision is to be an innovative institution, holistically educating students to connect with and contribute to an ever-changing world. competing in ncaa division iii, its athletic program has won national and conference championships in baseball, basketball, golf and soccer, and softball, instilling excellence and pride across generations of panthers. point university was originally founded in atlanta christian college in 1937 and its mission is to educate and equip students for christ-centered service and leadership throughout the world. for three consecutive years, point has been recognized as an naia champion of character five-star institution, a designation that honors their commitment to integrity, respect and servant leadership. mr. speaker, i am proud to recognize the newest college football rivalry in the great state of georgia and i encourage you and all of my colleagues to tune in on saturday night and watch the clash of highway 29

between the lagrange college panthers and the point university skyhawks. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from minnesota seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise in recognition of the brave hospital workers who responded to the enunsation school shooting last week. ms. morrison: whenever a mass shooting happens, the ripple effects of the trauma it causes in that community are profound. i want to take a moment to thank every health care worker who helped save lives and responding -- in responding to this event. children and particularly the staff who took in nearly a dozen children in critical condition, these children arrived alone, unidentified and ripped apart by gunshot wounds. the hospital staff leapt into action immediately, removing shrapnel, performing emergency surgery, providing stabilizing

care and comfort to these little children. while we're immensely grateful for their expertise, we should not normalize that doctors and nurses in the united states have had to become experts in managing war wounds. the toll is takes on them is real. this event reminds us of how critically important our level one trauma centers are in our communities. they're life-saving and these hospital workers are our heroes. i am immeasurably grateful, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize carol high school for their accomplishments in teaching future generations of leaders. mr. stutzman: as president trump has highlighted, indiana does education right. and carol high school is no exception. the u.s. news and world report ranked carol high school as the

number one high school in fort wayne, indiana, and number 15 in the state. carol has demonstrated their high standards through excellent performance on state required tests, a 95% graduation rate, and exceeding expectations for college readiness. in high school, students learn more than just math and chemistry equations. rather, students build their work ethic, establish critical thinking skills, and learn what it means to be a citizen of our great country. teachers are endowed with edkating our teachersers with -- with educating our teachers which is why i'm thankful for all of the teachers at carol high school. your dedication to teaching fort wayne's next generation of leaders are incredible and our community is extremely appreciative. congratulations to carol high school on this accomplishment and i'm excited to see the future achievements of carol high school students. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute.

ms. kelly: mr. speaker, i rise today in defines of president trump's threats to deploy the national guard to chicago. he wasted $1 million every day to house the national guard in d.c. and now he wants to further misuse taxpayer dollars instead of investing in real, permanent solutions to gun violence. like d.c., i'm sure chicago can use money for more police, mental health counselors, social workers and community violence intervention programs. president trump is actively making gun violence worse. he froze funding allocated to community violence prevention organizations, shut down the office of violence and shut down the office of violence prevention and made it easier to buy guns. gun violence is a public health issue, but the c.d.c. has been stripped of medical experts and leaders. let's be truthful about the real reason why president trump wants to deploy the national guard to chicago. it's not to reduce crime. it's to instill fear and abuse his power. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise today to commend the wild sunshine factory as a distillery in mckeon county in pennsylvania that makes a great product using sun flowers for that beverage. but i commend them today for honoring a vital piece of the commonwealth's logging and conservation heritage. the colossal cherry. colossal cherry is now an art fact but at one time it was the largest black cherry tree in the world. they hosted a dedication ceremony on august 22 in honor of the colossal cherry which is also known as the sheffield log. discovered and preserved through efforts of local historians and conservation advocates, the sheffield log stands as a

powerful symbol of the region's natural history, the resilience of its people and the enduring value of sustainable forestry it. once stood in the woods before being knocked down during the tornado of 1985. it was then formally homed in sheffield, pennsylvania, to mark its centennial in 1986. now the newly restored colossal black cherry sits at its permanent home at the wild sunshine factory. mr. speaker, this rededication is a story we're celebrating. i thank everyone who took part in the preservation of the colossal black cherry. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. davis: mr. speaker, i rise to recognize 4-year-old grayson

ellis from windsor, north carolina. grayson is full of energy and curiosity. in his spare time he loves baseball and fishing. he learned to count to 50 from playing hide and seek. but what makes grayson so special to me is his love for politics and civics. he wanted to meet with his congressman, so we met. i'm sure his mom, samantha, and dad, brian, they were proud of him because he even dressed the part too. mr. speaker, young people like grayson are watching us every single day. grayson reminds us that we must inspire the next generation, work to open new doors of opportunity, and help every child live the american dream. thank you, grayson, for this reminder. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition?

without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. subramanyam: mr. speaker, i rise today to remember the life and legacy of jim demarre, a devoted husband, father and grandfather. jim was a passionate photographer and framed the world through his camera. capturing nature and small family moments and he and his wife maria moved to northern virginia over 30 years ago, raising four children and making countless contributions to our community. as we mourn his passing, we celebrate a life well lived. one that embodied the principles of hard work, integrity and love. jim's memory will continue to inspire all who knew him, to live fully, love deeply, speak truthfully, laugh often. and always take the picture. may he rest in peace. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 2-a-1 of rule 9, i rise

to give notice of my intention to raise a question of the privileges of the house, in the form of a resolution as is follow -- as follows. ms. clarke: where's representative corey mills has on several occasions conducted himself in a manner that reflects discredit upon the house of representatives. whereas on february 19 of 2025, washington, d.c., metropolitan police department officers were called to resolve a private matter at representative cory mills' residence, where officers were called to the 1300 block of maryland avenue southwest around 1 15:p.m. -- 1:15 p.m. for the report of an assault. whereas the police reports obtained by nbc 4 washington confirmed that the washington, d.c., metropolitan police department was investigating

representative cory miss for an -- cory mills for an alleged sawment of a -- assault of a 27-year-old woman that took place on february 19, 2025, at the residence of representative cory mills. ... whereas the police report was provided for nbc 4 washington by a source and confirmed by a second source familiar with the investigation said that the 27-year-old woman accused her significant other for over a year of having grabbed her, shoved her, and pushed her out the door, and also said, the woman involved, showed the officers bruises on her arm which appeared fresh. and whereas, nbc 4 washington also reported that the metropolitan police department identified representative cory mills as the significant other of the alleged victim of assault which

alleged victim was a 27-year-old woman who was not the wife of representative cory mills, and that the alleged victim let officers hear, subject 1, identified by m.p.d. as mills, instruct her to lie about the origin of her bruises. eventually subject 1 made contact with police and admitted that the situation escalated from verbal to physical but it was severe enough to create bruising. whereas on february 21, 2025, "the washington post" confirmed two d.c. police officers, officials, said that the alleged victim of the assault initially told a 911 operator and police she had been assaulted and that officers said

she seemed to have visible injuries and the officer classified the offense internally as a family disturbance. police commanders later learned of the incident and reviewed the reports and body cam footage from the responding officers and classified the case as domestic violence assault. and whereas on february february 21, 2025, nbc 4 washington also reported the metropolitan police department determined that probable cause to arrest representative cory mills a misdemeanor assault existed and sent a warrant for representative cory mills to the united states attorney's office for the district of columbia. however, then acting united states attorney for the district of columbia, ed martin, refused to sign the arrest warrant for representative cory mills, and instead returned the case to the

metropolitan police department for further investigation. whereas, on july 14, 2025, a different former romantic partner of representative cory mills who was apparently in a relationship with representative mills of february of 21 to february 25 reported from florida that representative mills threatened to release nude images and other intimate videos of her and threatened to harm her future romantic partners in retaliation for her decision to end a relationship with representative mills after seeing the public records described above concerning the alleged february 2025 physical assault. whereas, in august of 2024, the office of congressional conduct adopted and transmitted to the committee on

ethics of the house of representatives a report indicating that there was substantial reason to believe that representative cory mills may have omitted or misrepresented required information in his financial disclosure statements, accepted excessive contributions to his campaign committee in the form of personal loans and contributions may not have derived from representative cory mills' personal funds entered into, held, or enjoyed contracts with federal agencies while he was a member of congress, and may have accepted through his campaign committee in kind contributions or other contributions not lawfully made. whereas, individuals who serve with representative cory mills have called into question the veracity of the accounts of events

which formed the basis of a recommendation that representative cory mills receive an award of a bronze star bestowed in 2021 for his service under enemy fire in iraq in 2023 -- excuse me, 2003. whereas, in august of 2024, cory mills provided the daytona beach news with documents purporting to prove he earned a bronze star with heroism, including a department of army form 638 recommending representative cory mills for a bronze star which includes a signature from then army brigade commander arnold n. gordon bray. however, brigadier general -- retired brigadier general bray told the daytona beach news journal in august of 2024 that he did not

sign a bronze star recommendation for representative cory mills. and whereas, five people who served with representative cory mills, including two men who were reported as having been personally saved by representative cory mills at great risk to his own life as a basis for the recommendation for his bronze star in the department of the army form 638 disputed that representative cory mills was involved in their rescue or providing lifesaving care. whereas, one private first class cited as having been involved in one of the listed achievements on representative cory mills' army form 638 recommending him for a bronze star denied that representative cory mills provided him any aid and also denied his injuries were life-threatening.

whereas, one sergeant cited as having been involved in one of the listed achievements on representative cory mills' army form 638 recommending him for a bronze star called into account -- called the account, excuse me, a fabrication and claimed that he was not involved in any claims that cory mills makes about me. and whereas, despite the numerous country addictions of the accounts forming the basis for the -- contradictions of the accounts forming the basis for the recommendation of a bronze star. and now therefore be it resolved that representative cory mills be censured.

representative cory mills forth with presents himself in the well for the house of representatives for the pronouncement of censure. and whereas, representative cory mills be censured with the public reading of the resolution by the speaker. mr. speaker, i rise to a question of the privileges of the house and offer the resolution that was previously noticed. the speaker pro tempore: u nder rule 9, a resolution offered from the floor by a member other than the majority leader or minority leader as a question of the privileges of the house has immediate precedence only at a time designated by the chair within two legislative days the resolution is noticed. pending that designation the form of the resolution noticed by the gentlelady from new york will appear in the record at this point. the chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution constitutes a question of privilege. that determination will be made at the time

designated for consideration of the resolution. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, by the direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 672 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: t he clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 42, house resolution 672, resolved resolved, that at any time after adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 4553 making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2026, and for other purposes. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations or

their respective designees. after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. the bill shall be considered as read. points of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause 2 or clause 5-a of rule 21 are waived. section 2. a, no amendment to h.r. 4553 shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution, amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution, and pro forma amendments described in section 4 of this resolution. b, each amendment printed in the report of the committee on rules shall be considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment except as provided by section 4 of this resolution, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole.

c, all points of order against amendments printed in the report of the committee on rules or against amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution are waived. section 3. it shall be in order at any time for the chair of the committee on appropriations or his designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution not earlier disposed of. amendments en bloc offered pursuant to this section shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations or their respective designees, shall not be subject to amendment except as provided by section 4 of this resolution, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. section 4. during consideration of h.r. 4553 for amendment, the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations or their respective designees may offer up to 10 pro forma amendments each at any point for the purpose of debate. section 5.

at the conclusion of consideration of h.r. 4553 for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as may have been adopted. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit. section 6. upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house any joint resolution specified in section 7 of this resolution. all points of order against consideration of each such joint resolution are waived. each such joint resolution shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in each such joint resolution are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on each such joint resolution and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except, one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on natural resources or their respective designees, and two, one motion to recommit. section 7.

the joint resolutions referred to in section 6 of this resolution are as follows, a, the joint resolution h.j. res. 104 providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code, of the rule submitted by the bureau of land management relating to ''miles city field office record of decision and approved resource management plan amendment''. b, the joint resolution h.j. res. 105 providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code, of the rule submitted by the bureau of land management relating to ''north dakota field office record of decision and approved resource management plan''. c, the joint resolution h.j. res. 106 providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code, of the rule submitted by the bureau of land management relating to ''central yukon record of decision and approved resource management plan''.

section 8. house resolution 668 is hereby adopted. section 9. house resolution 605 is hereby adopted. section 10. house resolution 598 is laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: t he gentleman from virginia is recognized for one hour. mr. griffith: for purposes of debate only, i yield the customary 30 minutes to the intrafrom massachusetts, pending which i yield myself such time i may consume. during consideration of this resolution all time yielded is for purposes of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: w ithout objection. mr. griffith: the rules committee met to put out a rule considering h.r. 4553, the energy and water development and related agencies appropriations act, h.j. res. 104 providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 of the united states code of the rules submitted by the bureau of land

management related to miles citi field office record of decision and approved resource plan amendment. h.j. res. 105 providing for congressional disapproval under title 8 of the united states code of the rule submitted by the land management related to north dakota field office record decision and approved resource management plan. h.j. recess 106 providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 united states code of the rules submitted by the bureau of land management relating to central yukon record of decision and approved resource management plan. house resolution 672 provides provides for consideration of h.r. 4553, the energy and water development and related agencies appropriations act under a structured rule, making in order 36 amendments. the rule provides one hour of general debate, equally divided and controlled. and provides for one motion to recommit, the rule further providing for consideration of h.j.res. 104, h.j.res. 105,

h.j.res. 106 all under closed rules with one hour of general debate, each divided and controlled by the chair and rankerring minority of the member on the committee of natural resources and provides each one motion to recommit. it provides that house resolution 668 and house resolution 605 are hereby adopted and house resolution 598 is laid on the table. today's rule allows for debate on several measures, including h.r. 4553, the energy and water development and related agencies appropriations act for fiscal year 2026. this appropriations bill funds many programs at the center of helping to assert our country's energy dominance. the bill cuts $766.4 million when compared to last year's funding bill, by focusing our efforts on energy innovation and water infrastructure. this appropriations bill provides funding to numerous scientific energy endeavors,

from nuclear fusion research, small modular reactors, nuclear fuel production, electric transmission system enhancements, energy storage and traditional fossil fuel research. at a time when energy demand from data centers and new manufacturing is increasing, these research efforts will greatly contribute to meeting the new normal. our example is the increase of funding for nuclear energy projects which will make more advanced nuclear fuel available, and accelerate small modular and advanced reactor testing. the department is also essential to our national security. this appropriations bill has over $20 billion in funds for the management of our nuclear weapons stockpile, and over $2 billion for our nuclear navy. this bill also funds numerous army corps of engineer and bureau of reclamation projects to provide dredging to maintain navigable ports and rivers and water storage projects to increase the water supply in drought-ridden sections of our country, as well as helping to

forestall flooding in areas from coastal areas to mountainous valley regions such as the area that i represent. the rule would also provide for debate on h.j.res. 104, h.j.res. 105, h.j.res. 106, all of which our congressional review act resolutions of disapproval. these overturn biden administration bureau of land management plans that were aimed at restricting coal mining and oil and gas drilling on federal land. h.r. jess -- h.j.res. 104 overturns the montana management resource plan which would prohibit new coal mining on about 2.75 million acres of federal land in montana. this bureau of land management rule would stop an estimated 30% of our country's coal reserves from being mined, even as electricity demand is increasing in the united states for the first time in over 10 years. h.j.res. 105, sponsored by congressman fedorchak, would

overturn a similar bureau of land management resource management plan for north dakota. under this biden-harris administration rule, four million acres of federal land in north dakota would not be available for coal mining or oil and gas extraction. additionally, the rule allows for debate on h.j.res. 106 sponsored by congressman begich of alaska which would nullify the central yukon management plan. thund rule, which effects 13.3 million acres of federal land in alaska, millions of acres would be barred from energy development. disallowing energy development on these lands will also hamstring efforts to get more american liquid natural gas onto the international market, and improve our country's standing as the leading energy producer in the world. we will also be considering a resolution that would direct the house oversight committee to continue their investigation into the jeffrey epstein and ghislaine maxwell files. the committee has already undertaken important steps in

their investigation into jeffrey epstein. just this week the committee met with the victims of jeffrey epstein. they have already issued subpoenas to the department of justice related to the epstein records. further, they have already received over 33,000 documents from the department of justice with more on the way. those 33,000 documents, mr. speakers, were released last night to the public. the committee already has transcribed interviews scheduled and have other subpoenas out as well. they are also doing this work in a bipartisan manner and we must give them all the necessary tools necessary to continue this important investigation. this resolution will bring transparency into all the documents and records related to jeffrey epstein, ghislaine maxwell, flight logs, any individuals referenced in connection to epstein, any entities with ties to epstein, any agency internal documents, documents related to epstein,'s detention and death and other areas. there are strings attached to this resolution as well. to ensure, to ensure, mr.

speaker, that we have full transparency. such as requiring written justification requirements for certain documents that are redacted, unless they fall under certain sensitive categories. this is a critical step forward in providing transparency into the epstein files and will give the public all the necessary information. this vote will show the american people that we are committed to full transparency and cooperation when it comes to jeffrey epstein and the investigation thereof. lastly, this rule is standing up a new select committee to continue investigation of the events surrounding january 6. they will bring more transparency and continue to investigate what happened that day so the american public is aware of the facts involved. i believe this new subcommittee is another critical step forward to bringing more transparency to everyone about the events and details surrounding that day. i hope members of this house support the passage of the rule

and the underlying bills andreslusions and with -- and resolutions and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves his time. the distinguished gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from virginia for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: here we go again, mr. speaker. here we go again. this rule is insane. and notwithstanding the gentleman's monday tone delivery -- monotone delivery, there's a lot going on here in this rule. and much of it is not good. what are republicans doing the first week back? something to lower food costs as trump's tariffs drive up prices? nope. something to fully fund the government before it shuts down in less than a month? nope. something to help with skyrocketing health care prices or reversing their devastating cuts to medicaid? nope. none of that. nothing to help regular people,

nothing to help workers or families or people struggling to get by. instead, instead, mr. speaker, these guys are continuing to cover up the epstein files. republicans are deeming as passed, which means no debate, no hearing, no markup, they are deeming as passed a new fake epstein resolution. and killing their last fake epstein resolution. all the while, we already have a real, bipartisan bill to unseal all these files. it's the massie-khanna bill. and last night every single republican on the rules committee voted against that bipartisan bill. every single one. and as if that's not bad enough, every single republican on the rules committee also voted to create out of thin air a brand new committee to rewrite the

history of what happened here on january 6, 2021. they are so desperate to paper over what happened that day, to whitewash it and pretend it was a normal tourist visit. i was here, mr. speaker. here in this chamber where you are sitting right now. and you can be damn sure i'm not going to let anyone pretend that january 6 was a normal tourist visit. but republicans, the gentleman from virginia included, refuse to even display a plaque to honor the police officers who were here that day. i'm so sick of this b.s. about how republicans support law enforcement. mr. griffith and every other republican on the rules committee voted against displaying a plaque to honor the law enforcement officers who were here on january 6. that plaque, mr. speaker, already exists. congress already passed a law to create it.

the speaker just refuses to display it. why? why would he refuse to do it? i know why. and we all know why. it's the same reason why every republican voted against releasing the epstein files. it's because rules republicans are scared as hell. this is not a deliberative body anymore. under this republican majority, congress has become a rubber stamp for donald trump. this is all about the ego of the man who lives at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. you guys think you work for trump, you're obsessed with him, it's pathetic. republicans are ruining this institution, mr. speaker. destroying this institution. again, let me repeat, every single republican on the rules committee voted against releasing the epstein files. every single one. i mean, we heard last night that

all republicans want full transparency. but that's just not true. let me read you a quote from the top republican in this country. president donald j. trump. this is what he says about the epstein files. and i quote. it's all been a big hoax. it's perpetrated by the democrats and some stupid republicans, end quote. and at a press availability just minutes ago, the president again said that this is all a hoax. now, what do republicans think of that? donald trump says this is all a hoax, and if you want to release the files, you're stupid. now, i'm not surprised. i'm not surprised that the guy who once called epstein a, quote, terrific guy, and who epstein considered his, quote, closest friend, is not actually interested in getting to the truth. but you know when this clicked in for me, mr. speaker? and for a lot of people? it clicked after trump won and

then the back tracking began. it clicked again yesterday. you know, it clicked after republicans -- it clicked after the same republican leaders who invited influencers to the white house and then passed out binders about the soon to be released client lists suddenly changed their tune and it clicked yesterday when phase two of the binders came out. more information released that's already been released. 97% of it has already been released. it clicked when the same maga politicians who once pledged to release everything suddenly came up with more excuses, more delays and more stalling tactics. and what is obvious to everyone is that someone is hiding something. and while all this stalling goes on, what happens? ghislaine maxwell, epstein's partner in crime, winds up in a curby -- cushy country club

prison courtesy of trump's political appointees. not a word of outrage from this republican majority. not a whisper of accountability. just silence. now, let's not pretend that this is complicated. it's pretty obvious what's going on. the trump administration has the power to release the epstein files today. they could redact names to protect victims and survivors and deliver the truth. but they refuse. and there's a simple true line to all of this, mr. speaker -- through line to all of this, mr. speaker. we all know why republicans are doing this with the epstein files. we all know why republicans refuse to display the plaque honoring the brave law enforcement officers who protected our democracy and protected all of us on january 6. we all know why republicans vote again and again and again for all these giveaways for the rich and powerful. it's donald trump. he wants to rewrite history. he wants to hide the truth about

jeffrey epstein and he wants to continue his giveaways to the well-off and the well-connected. this is all straight out of the authoritarian playbook and you can bet your ass we are going to continue fighting like hell to oppose this instan sanity. i -- this insanity. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: doe s the gentleman reserve his time? mr. mcgovern: day. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. members should be reminded that they need to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president of the united states. mr. griffith: members of congres being called by names as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. griffith: thank you, mr. speaker, i appreciate that

very much. you know, it's so fascinating tt facts don't seem to matter sometimes on the floor. the only administration that evr released anything on the epstein smiles is the trump administration. and last night, house oversight investigation committee released over 37,000 files. they said 97% of it had been released. that's a lot of files. let's take that 97% and say it's accurate for argument and for argument only. that means of 33,000 files, 3% f that is new. and in fact, i will tell you asi was going through clips this morning, i noticed one conservative news source that said, eureka, the missing minute surrounding epstein's death is n the material that's been released.

there's been a lot of controvery about that, a lot of people want to know about it. well, there it is. more and more information is coming out and coming out becaue of the trump administration and because of the house oversight investigation committee. but somehow if we don't adhere o the exact demands of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we're not doing it right. and i submit to you, mr. speake, that the house overside and investigations committee is doig it right. they're going through it. and as i pointed out in my opening, mr. speaker, if they decide to use one of the limited areas that they could do a redaction, they have to explain why. and if the administration doesnt turn over some information, if they redact the information before sending it to the house, they have to explain why. and of course some of the information you want to protect,

mr. speaker, is information related to victims that's not yt been in the press. why would we want to take young women who were victims of epsten and his colleagues, and they don't want to have their name in the press, why would we suddenly expose them to that? of course we don't want to do that so there would have to be limited areas where redactions have to occur but all of that hs to be explained. then they bring up the president's comments this mornig about a hoax and are trying to mislead, in my opinion -- some are trying to mislead the american people into thinking that the president said that epstein and the investigation ws a hoax. that's not what he said. if you look at what he said, it was the controversy over the epstein files that was a hoax because they've been releasing more data than any other administration. i say that because the biden administration had all this information and they didn't release it.

they had four years. they could have released it all. didn't choose to do it. now my colleagues on the other side of the aisle somehow want o claim it's a conspiracy by trump to hide information that was in the hands of their party's president and their party's d.o.j., it was in their hands ad they didn't release it, but somehow it's our fault, mr. speaker. it is the republican's fault the biden administration didn't do what they now claim the trump administration should be doing. it's hard to understand that logic but somehow we are at fault, mr. speaker, for them not doing the job that they think we should have made their president do. fascinating. absolutely fascinating. and then of course we get to all the consternation about this j-6 committee. this is an outgrowth of an investigation that started as a part of house admin. i served on the subcommittee tht

was doing that investigation. and it's really interesting. that group -- and i was a part f it, found that there was more than one tear byte -- tara bite -- tarabyte of information. according to thompson there should have been four turned ovr and there was only three. that is equivalent to six millin pages, as p.d.f.'s, 500 hours of high definition video, or 250,00 photos. the depositions were not filed properly or weren't filed at all and archived as they were supposed to be and is the rule that set up the -- the prior committee said they were supposd to be there. i can assure you, mr. speaker, that as a former member of this preceding group, we're just

trying to get the data that's missing. we're trying to make sure we put all the information on the tabl. we want the files released that are out there. we want to find that missing terabyte. some of it has been recovered ad it needs to continue. the admin didn't have the power to subpoena records. it's necessary, and i will submt to you, it is necessary to get all the information out. and i said last night to my colleagues, as a person who lovs history and has a history degre, we need to get all the documents on the table, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and let history determine what occurred on that day. there's no point in trying to hide it. and if my colleague -- i don't understand why my colleagues on the other side want to hide a terabyte. a fourth of what the committee did was never turned over to the

house. it belongs to the house and the people of the united states. it does not belong hidden somewhere in a hidden drawer or destroyed. and unfortunately because of tht lack of turning over the records in a proper manner to the house, we have to continue the work tht was not done by the previous democrat controlled, i know they had two republicans on it, but they weren't the members picked by the house, republicans. and it wasn't in the numbers usually allocated or originally called for for a select committee. we'll do it right. we'll put the information on the table and let the american peope make a judgment now and historians to be able to argue over what happened on that day s time moves forward. and with that, i reserve the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, this is laughable and also unconscionable.

we know what's going on here. it's an attempt to distract and rewrite the history of january , and quite frankly, it's offensive. it's offensive to the brave men and women who protected our livs on that day. you know, there's not a bunch of evidence that -- destroyed evidence like the gentleman claims. that's just not accurate. and the select committee complid with the requirements of the resolution establishing it in consultation with the clerk of the house and the document retention precedence of other committees of this house, the select committee's final report, and its support materials are posted publicly online. and just to be sure, i checked again today, all of them, every single page of every transcript is posted online publicly. maybe the gentleman can't find them and i would be many to give him the website information. the truth is you just don't like what the evidence shows. so you want to go on a fishing expedition to try to twist the truth instead of accepting the fact of that day. the fact -- and the fact is thi.

the people that stormed the capitol, beat police officers in order to try to stop the peacefl transition of power. and they were supporters of the president -- of donald trump, period. it was one of the most shameful and darkest episodes of our democracy, and no fishing expedition or alternative facts is going to change the reality. what is particularly offensive s donald trump pardoned all these people, pardoned the people who beat the police officers who protect all of us every single day. it is shameful. and in speaking about the epsten files, again, i'm looking at the video of a few minutes ago, donald trump speaking to reporters calling all this a hoax. all this of the epstein files a hoax. he's not talking about what we'e doing here. and by the way, let me just say to the gentleman and anybody ele who wants to know, listen to wht

the victims were asking for outside this capitol just a few minutes ago, the survivors, the survivors of mr. epstein and ms. maxwell. listen to what the survivors hae been saying. they want the bill passed and something with teeth in it that will force this administration o comply because they don't trust that they will. with that i yield three minutes to the gentleman from new mexic, a distinguished member of the rules committee, ms. ledger fernandez. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. ms. leger fernandez: trump is terrified that the administratin releases the damn files. he's lobbying against it. what's he afraid of? to kill the massie bill, the republicans are pushing a resolution that would give chairman comer of the oversight

committee sole power over what gets released. i don't know about you but i wouldn't trust a self-proclaime, and these are his words, a trump man, to decide what to redact ad what americans get to see. remember, trump repeatedly, not just today, but repeatedly calld the epstein scandal a hoax and he's called epstein himself a terrific guy. and oversight acted only because democrats forced the subpoenas. today republicans, as you heard it, are patting themselves on te back for releasing the same documents that were given to right wing influences months ag. we want the oversight committee to do its job, hold the hearing, follow the money, pursue the truth, and protect the victims. but we can do both. the committee can do its job and we can get -- all we need is two more republicans to sign massies discharge petition so the files

get released to the public. let's not forget, this is about the women and children who were terrorized and abused by a pedophile and his rich friend. it's about the cover-up that started with the rich and powerful and is still coming frm a gold plated oval office. we've listened to the survivors share their stories. they've made many of us cry, but we he won't stop at tears, we will work to bring justice to these brave women, to do what they've asked, which is to release the files. the rule, by the way, is also a republican attempt to cover up how they are raising energy prices for american families in the energy and water appropriations bill. renewable energy brings down the cost of electricity. trump and republicans are destroying this clean and affordable energy by cutting its funding in half. they are doing this to benefit the fossil fuel companies that donated to their campaigns.

finally, they're also rewriting the history of january 6. they quietly slipped in the rule a brand-new select committee on select memory to protect the vey insurrectionists that stormed te capitol. these are violent thugs that attacked our democracy and brutalized police officers. donald trump pardoned those violent criminals. now republicans want to give thm cover in the same halls of congress the thugs once attacke. shame, shame, shame. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back her tim. does the gentleman wish to reserve his time. mr. mcgovern: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: u.s.a. massachusetts reserves his time. the distinguished gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. griffith: thank you, mr. speaker. i make no apology for being pro

u.s. energy. i make no apology in saying the united states needs more electrc power. i make no apology in saying we can get that electric power with things like these bills that are in this rule today. it works on small modular reactors and works on fusion and nuclear and works on coal and works on making sure that we hae the ability to mine the coal in the united states. it makes sure we have the abiliy to extract our oil and natural gas resources. and if we want to compete with the chinese, mr. speaker, we're going to have to up our game on producing electric power. and it's fascinating to me when we hear these debates, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will often point out - in fact, they did it last night, point out that the chinese are doing so much more with wind and solar, and they never mentioned the chinese are building dozens of new power plants as we speak. powered by coal. so if we're going to use the chinese as the model that we're

supposed to follow in generating electricity, we should therefore not be closing down all of our coal power plants. and, mr. speaker, as you know, the coal in the united states ad the way we burn it is much cleaner than the way the chinese burn it in their plants. we need to be making sure we hae new energy development which the energy and water bill does, ways we can burn that coal and burn our natural gas even cleaner thn we're doing today, though we produce electricity cleaner with our fossil fuels than any other country in the world. and guess what we can do, mr. speaker, if we can continue to move forward and build new plants and show how this new technology can be used, we can e the ones exporting it to india and sub-saharan africa instead f the chinese importing the technologies from the 1960's and 1970's instead of the technologies available today. . . i have to tell you that the air

is shared by all of us. there is a nasa study i often cite that says at that takes 10 days there the anile of the goby desert to the eastern shore of virginia. that's why the majority of mercury comes from asia in california. our fossil fuel plants and technologies to make our processes cleaner, then export it to the rest of the world, the more we can could to clean up the air in the world as a whole because the air is not something that uniquely belongs to the united states. it doesn't sit over one town very long. sometimes we get a little inversion in the roanoke area and sits there for a few days, it doesn't sit there for weeks and months and years. we need to look at the worldwide issue in regard to that. i make no apology for supporting bills that will take care of making sure that we can in this nation, as a nation, all of us, profit and have the a.i. needed and have the electricity for data centers needed instead of

getting it and ceding it to the ocasio-cortez because we don't want to work on oil, natural gas, and coal because some how my colleagues on the other side of the aisle decided those resources are not appropriate to be used in the united states. if we want to be a second rate country, have at it. that's not what i stand for, mr. speaker. i stand for us being the leading energy producer in the world and making sure we do it as clean as possible so we can export our clean coal technology, our clean natural gas facilities, new fusion if we can get there, new modular reactors, and export that technology to the world and be the leader in the world when it comes to energy production, but number one, making sure we take care of our needs in the united states as we are looking at not having enough electricity going forward to keep our economy as the number one economy in the world. mr. speaker, i often tell people back home, this is important not

just for today but for the generations to come because when you look at the powers and the economic sphere in the past, some very small nations have reached into the future and benefited their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren. i often talk about royal dutch shell. shell oil, which was a derivative -- you can attack how they got the money. it was all part of colonialism. i get that. because they were number one economic nation in the world from roughly 1650 to 1700, there are still people and families in the netherlands who are benefiting. they moved their headquarters to london. they are been fitting from the fact they are one time the economic nation in the world. i want us to be the number one economic nation as long as possible so that children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren out 10 generations will benefit. so i make no apologies for supporting these bills we have in this rule today and supporting the fact that american energy is predominant and should remain a major force

in the world instead of ceding everything to the chinese. with that i reserve the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, that's an awful lot of words to defend the fossil fuel industry and while the gentleman's defending big oil and all these big corporations that rip off the american people, charging exorbitant prices for energy, while he was going on that tirade i went back and lis listennenned to president trump's press conference at the white house. not only did he call -- move to release the epstein files a democratic hoax, he said it was designed to get the american people to focus in on something that was irrelevant. let that sink in. if you listen to the survivors

that are in front of the capitol a few minutes ago, listen to their horror stories, thatnt? that the president of the united states of america would say something like that is pathetic. he could very easily put all this controversy to rest by just releasing the files. that is why we need to pass the massey-cana -- khanna bill. we could pass a bill that would compel him to do that. what you did in the rules committee last night is a resolution that doesn't mean anything. it's designed as covered. quite frankly, it's not enough. i now yield 2 1/2 minutes to the gentlewoman from new mexico ms. stansbury. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new mexico is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. ms. stansbury: mr. speaker, i have to say i'm always amazed,

disturbed, sometimes can't believe what i hear on this floor. we are sitting here today as a government shut down is looming, survivors of the crimes committed by jeffrey epstein and his associates are here on this campus sharing their harrowing and heartbreaking stories, court has just ordered that trump's illegal tariffs have been put in place and are harming americans and violating the law, and the president is deploying our brave men and women who serve in the national guard to occupy american cities. and what is the g.o.p.'s agenda for this week crammed into this one bill that we are here to debate? one fake appropriations bill they know will never pass. three resolutions to undermine protections for the environment. one resolution snuck in in the dark of night to reconvene the

january 6 commission to try to rewrite history. and one resolution designed to provide donald trump and the white house cover in one of the largest epstein cover-ups we have seen. this isn't about protecting people. we have a bipartisan discharge petition right there at the clerk's desk. if my colleagues would like to see the files released, the two of you who are in this chamber right now could literally walk down there and sign that petition right now. but you don't want the files released. you want it controlled by the oversight committee because if you did, you could sign that petition right there that would release those unredacted files. let's also be clear, donald trump issued a statement today that said to all of you, you republicans here in this chamber, if you sign that

discharge petition, he will count it as a hostile act. that's right, the united states president is threatening members of his own party in this chamber from signing a petition that would release the full unredacted epstein files. my question is, what are they hiding? who are they protecting? and why are our colleagues failing to have a backbone not only to stand up for the survivors but to stand up for the american people? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. does the gentleman wish to reserve his time? mr. mcgovern: i wish to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: i would remind my colleagues that they need to address the speaker and not the audience that is here. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. griffith: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, this epstein situation is very serious.

and i take it as such. we have victims whose lives can never be made whole. and this debate has taken on the life of its own and in many ways its illogical. on the one hand we have the resolution included in the rule that has subpoena power and has broader authority than the massey-ro khanna piece of legislation that my colleagues on the other side want. it gives us the ability to subpoena banking records, estate files, and depositions none of which are required in the masse. further, find it interesting because ours is a resolution that gives the endorsement of

the house, gives more power in the oomph behind the oversight committee's hard work. the opposing piece of legislation, mr. speaker, should it pass the house, goes over to the senate, and should it pass the senate requires the signature of the very president they say wants to block it. it bo only seem -- it would only seem logical i would submit to you, mr. speaker, and to the american people, it would only be logical to go with the one we can get voted on in the house and have action going forward and have action taking place that deals with these serious issues and brings to light every piece of information that we can put on the table with the rare exceptions of a few redactions

which have to be explained and some of which are necessary to protect some of the victims themselves. because they don't want to have their names out there in the public. so, mr. speaker, i don't understand it. if what we want is the information, we should pass this rule and move forward. and not have to rely on passage in the senate and signature of the president. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, first of all, i'm going to thank the gentleman for publicly splitting with the president of the united states. he said that the epstein matter was a serious matter. the president just a few minutes ago said it was irrelevant. i think it takes a little courage for republicans these days to stand up to the president. but i do want to point out for the record that the resolution that is deemed passed in this rule grants no new authority, no

new power, no new nothing to the oversight committee. it doesn't do anything. if you want to do something, you can go to the well and you can sign the discharge petition to allow us to vote on the mass aye-khanna bill which would compel and force the justice department to release the files. if the president wants to veto that bill, i would like to think the democrats and republicans would join together to override such a veto. i can't imagine anyone here wanting to defend the indefensible. we have another you can be helpful here f we defeat the previous question, i will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of h.r. 4405, the bipartisan epstein files transparency act introduced by representatives khanna and mass aye. mr. speaker -- mast aye, mr. speaker, the republicans are twisting themselves into not

trying to do something on epstein to give something to vote on, anything for cover, while not upsetting the president. that's why they have deemed in this rule a nonbinding resolution to tell the oversight committee to keep doing what they are already doing. which, best as i can tell, is to slow roll the release of documents that the d.o.j. seems to think are acceptable to the president for release. well, mr. speaker, the american people didn't ask for an oversight committee investigation. they asked for all the epstein files to be released. the very thing that the trump administration promised, and then suspiciously backtracked on. this bill is bipartisan. and it is the only legislation on epstein that has the force of law. it has the votes to pass. the survivors of epstein's and max well's crimes spoke today at the capitol demanding this very

bill get passed. republican leaders need to stop standing in the way. now is their chance. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, to discuss our proposal i yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, the sponsor of this bipartisan legislation, mr. cana. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. khanna: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i'm just returning from hearing the survivors tell their stories. and i was so deeply moved. this is not a political issue. this is an issue of 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds who told the stories of how they were solicited by jeffrey epstein and raped and assaulted. then they went to the police, and the police didn't do

anything. because jeffrey epstein new rich people. because he knew presidents. because he knew donors. this is not a republican issue. this is not a democratic issue. marjorie taylor greene was there speaking out with the survivors. nancy mace was in tears because she's a survivor when she heard their stories. lauren boebert has said we need to speak up for the survivors. this is an issue that could actually bring this country together to say that a nation in which rich and powerful men can rape young girls without consequence is a nation that has lost its moral and spiritual soul. ... we can fight about a lot of things. we shouldn't fight about this. we need two more republicans to sign the discharge petition. i have a pretty simple rule. most people don't understand all

the jargon of congress. but the survivors simply said they want the massie-khanna bil. they want it for closer and for release of the files. you know what the irony is? president trump could actually e the person that does good in this. he could change his mind. speaker johnson is a true christian. i know him. i know his family. he's a good christian man. he can be for bringing justice. i really don't understand why we're fighting over this. why don't we do something good for this country? why don't we stand with these survivors and show this nation we're still capable of coming together when it matters for truth and justice. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: does te gentleman from massachusetts choose to reserve his time? the gentleman from massachusetts reserves his time. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. griffith: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. the gentleman from massachusett.

mr. mcgovern: seems lonely over there, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from virginia, ms. mcclellan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is yielding two minuts to the gentlewoman from virgini. ms. mcclellan: the last two wees i traveled around my district ad the commonwealth of virginia to talk about the work we're doing here in washington as we headed back to try to avoid a governmet shutdown in the next 28 days. and frankly, i didn't hear a lot about jeffrey epstein, although what happened is very serious ad the victims do indeed -- the survivors do indeed need closur. i didn't hear very much about january 6, although that was a serious stain on american history. what i did hear about were concerns about rising costs.

the costs of everything from health care to childcare, energ, food, technology, everything going on. and the president's illegal tariff policy is making it wors. i heard concerns from providers and patients about the impact that medicaid cuts are going to have on hundreds of thousands of virginians. i heard from state legislators and local government officials about the concerns they have about shifting costs on their budgets. and that's why i oppose the energy appropriations bill here today because one way to reduce costs while meeting our energy demands is through energy efficiency programs and clean ad renewable energy. but this bill cuts in half the

department of energy's office of energy and efficiency renewable office, and by extension, the programs for energy efficiency and clean energy. and we will never meet our exploding energy demands affordably, reliably, and quicky without energy efficiency and clean energy programs. and that's why i stand to oppose this bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts reserves his time. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. griffith: thank you, mr. speaker. in regard to energy, i can tell you i represent a region of the country where, when we were usig our coal resources which god has blessed us with abundantly, we had the third or fourth lowest electric rates in the country, and then suddenly fossil fuels became a bad idea, even natural

gas. oh, my gosh, we can't use it. and the electric rates keep goig up and up and up. and the people in my district, which is not a wealthy district, they're complaining because ther electricity rates are going up and one of the major drivers are prior democrat policies, mr. speaker, that said we're not going to be doing anymore coal-fired power plants. we're not going to encourage natural gas to be used to create electricity. and we stranded the assets. as you know, mr. speaker, what that means is they're paying for the electricity generated by wid and solar, and they're paying fr the electricity that was there for plants that were opened that have not met their full expectation or life cycle. for example, there's a facility in my district i went to the ribbon cutting on in 2012. 2012. that democrats in the commonwealth of virginia, including some of my esteemed

colleagues on the other side frm that commonwealth, that great commonwealth, thought it was appropriate to say let's close that down early. it opened in 2012 with a 50- 200 0-year expectancy and want to close it down around 2035 or 200 well beyond their life expectany and that pushes the power companies to find more expensive ways, as it turns out, to create that electricity. and what this bill does is it pushes us on nuclear, which if you don't want to use fossil, that's the only way you can get the base load power to us and make us competitive with the chinese in the field of a.i. and yet somehow once again, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle cannot realize that it's the policies of their prior congresses and prior administrations, which in large measure, not exclusively, but in

large measure have causeed the spike, the spike, not a general increase, not inflation level, but a spike over and above your general inflation on the cost of energy in this country. if we get back to the basics, if we pass this rule, we have three c.r.a.'s and we have the energy and water act, all of which help make the united states of ameria more viable when it comes to energy and makes those electric prices that my colleagues said was one of the bigger concerns that she heard when touring around the commonwealth, the cot of those energy prices will go down if we pass this rule and pass the underlying bills. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserve. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from new jersey,

multiple sclerosis ms. -- ms. pou. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. pou: the american families are struggling for relief. that did not stop the republicas from repealing the home improvement tax credit, a major mistake that could not have come at a worse time. a mix of a rising cost of livin, americans are now being denied n important tool to lower their energy costs solely so billionaires could get another unneeded tax giveaway. that is why i introduce a common sense amendment to study the impacts of tearing this program away from american homeowners. i am absolutely disappointed, bt not surprised, that the house majority continues to hide the impacts of their big, ugly bill

and block americans from seeing how it raises their electric bills. i came to congress to lower high costs, and i will not stop working to lower energy costs fr the hard-working americans. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. mr. mcgovern: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. griffith: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: i yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: the vote for this rule is to form a new subcommittee to look at the insurrection of january 6. i have an idea, instead of wasting time to form a select subcommittee to investigate january 6, maybe we should read the report that the january 6 select committee already finishd in 2022.

here it is, thousands of pages, millions of records, testimony from trump's own people. you could use it as a doorstop it's so thorough. but no, republicans want to rewrite history, because if we were all being honest here, that's what this is all about. pretend january 6 was just a field trip gone wrong. pretend the police weren't bludgeoned or tased. pretend the gallos outside this building were just some kind of art installation. it's insulting and a slap in the face to every officer who butt their bodies on the line to save ours. and here's the kicker, the majority still hasn't hung the plaque honoring those officers,a plaque required by law. so instead of a sham committee, how about you get a screwdriver and hang the damn plaque because every day it sits in a box is another day the republicans dishonor the heros who defended this place.

but if they insist on this litte circus, at least investigate something real, like why donald trump pardoned people who assaulted police officers. one of those men is now servinga life sentence for plotting to murder nearly 40 law enforcement officers and blow up the f.b.i. his lawyers even tried to argue that trump's pardon should cover his murder plot. another pardon committed a home invasion less than four months later. i bet those homeowners wish he'd be behind bars serving his eight-year sentence for assaulting cops instead of harassing their family. 10 of trump's pardonnists have been arrested or sentenced for other crimes. i yield myself another 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: maybe we should call this criminal recidivism by trump's friends. but that's not what this is about. it's about distraction, another shiny object, because the

majority doesn't want to talk about the things they're actualy blocking like the bipartisan effort to release the epstein files. i'll make it simple, stop rewriting history. stop wasting time. stop dishonoring the police. follow the law for god's sakes, hang the plaque. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. griffith: mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserve. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: is the gentleman prepared to close? mr. griffith: i am. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: he has no more speakers? may i inquire how much time is remaining? the speaker pro tempore: 2 1/4 minutes. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i yield myself the remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: what we've heard today, mr. speaker, is excuse after excuse after excuse, diversion after diversion, but o answers to the questions i've asked. why won't the trump administration release the epstein files? why won't the speaker hang up te

plaque honoring the law enforcement officers who defendd our democracy on january 6? why do republicans continue voting time and time and time again to help their rich and powerful friends? i know the answer, mr. speaker. the answer is because of the man who occupies the oval office. republicans want to let trump rewrite history to protect the rich, powerful perpetuators of epstein's crimes, to protect the people who came into this building to desecrate our democracy and to protect his wealthy donors and big oil who want another giveaway. and at the end of the day, mr. speaker, this is about trus. how can the american people trut republicans when they promise to release the epstein files and then broke that promise. how can americans trust republicans when they claim to support law enforcement and then they want to rewrite the truth about what happened on january ? republicans who want to ignore the fact that trump pardoned

people who brutally assaulted lw enforcement officers. how can they be trusted? how can anyone trust republicans when they negotiate spending bills, bills which have become law, only to let donald trump illegally shut down federal agencies in direct violation of those negotiations? i don't trust these guys to tell me the correct time let alone trust them to do what's right fr the american people. the way to restore trust is simple, hang the january 6 plaqe honoring the officers who defended our democracy on that day. stop the giveaways for those at the top. and release the damn epstein files. the victims of jeffrey epstein and ghislaine maxwell's horrific crimes were outside the capitol building this morning to demand we pass the bipartisan khanna-massie file to release these files. we have a bill to do it. stop delaying. stop destructing. stop protecting the powerful

perpetuators of these crimes and just release the damn files. i urge a hell no on this rule ad i yield the remainder of my tim. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. . . . mr. griffith: we need to help take care of water problems in y district, etc. we have we have argued for over an hour, most of it being the same repetitive things. this rule gives that extra oomph. it shows the support for what the work that the oversight committee's doing regarding the epstein files. it moves us forward on energy and water. it moves us forward on energy production in the united states. it moves us forward on nuclear

power and making sure that we are using it in a responsible but effective way. so that we can continue to be the world's leader when it comes to energy production. instead of handcuffing our capabilities. we have gone over a lot of serious issues. the american people who are paying attention to this have already heard all those arguments. so, mr. speaker, i will simply say, that i hope that all the members of this house will support the passage of this resolution. it's important. for a number of reasons. and i hope they will pass the underlying bills and resolutions when those come up. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question on this important resolution.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote of the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 9 of rule torques the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of adoption of the resolution. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

but then i'll come back and you'll come back and i got perfect. good morning, everybody. good morning, blaze. very good. just out of respect for particularly, the survivors are going to speak. if we could have some silence. and if folks could just please calm down. you can. people can speak what members of congress or speak. i just want to make sure that the victims and survivors are going to be heard today. i want to begin by thanking britney henderson and brad edwards for their tireless work

in the pursuit of justice. and i want to thank sarah drury on my team for working with them. above all, i want to thank the survivors who are here today, whose courage and strength have brought us to this moment. i want to thank my co-lead congressman thomas massie and congress woman marjorie taylor greene for standing with survivors here today. today, as you can see, we're united in restoring trust in government. we're here not as partizans. we're here as patriots. we begin the work of bringing this country together. progressives, independent moderates and, yes, maga supporters to demand truth and justice. a nation that allows rich and powerful men to traffic and abuse young girls without

consequence. is a nation that has lost its moral and spiritual core. american eyes are asking a very simple question. how is it possible that in the richest, most powerful country in the world there are corrupt special interest forces, both foreign or domestic? that our preventing the release that have a strain to hold on our government and are preventing the release of the full epstein files. there is something that is rotten in washington. less than 1% of these files have been released. we are demanding today on the discharge petition that all of the files be released. we know we have 212 democrats and we have four republicans. courageous republicans like thomas massie, nancy mace, who was so emotional yesterday after

talking to the survivors. congresswoman boebert and congresswoman marjorie taylor greene. we need just two more signatures to force the release. so we gather here on the steps of the capitol to confront these corrupt forces. today, we stand with survivors. we stand against big money. we stand to protect america's children. that is really what this is about. i now want to bring up my republican colleague, thomas massie. he has shown so much courage, so much leadership. and i saw some people say the same thing about marjorie taylor greene. she has shown so much courage on this issue. i saw some people when i was coming here calling her names. we've got to stop that. we've got to stop the partizanship on this issue. this is an issue where they both have shown real courage and leadership. and i appreciate them joining us today. congressman massie.

i want to thank my colleague ro khanna for co-leading this effort to bring transparency and justice for these victims. i hope my colleagues are watching this press conference. i want them to think, what if this was your sister? what if this was your daughter? when these survivors speak, the washington establishment is asking the american public to believe something that is not believable. they're asking you to believe that two individuals created hundreds of victims and they acted alone, and that the doj has no idea of who else might have been involved, that nobody else did anything that rose to a criminal enterprise. the american people know that's not true. now, the speaker of the house just offered a fig leaf to my colleague. they're going to vote on a non-binding resolution today that does absolutely nothing. i appreciate the efforts of my colleague james comer, who's leading the oversight committee.

they may find some information, but they're allowing the doj to curate all of the information that the doj is giving them. if you've looked at the pages they've released so far, they're heavily redacted. some pages are entirely redacted. and 97% of this is already in the public domain. so i'm calling on my colleagues, be one of the next to who sponsors this discharge petition. i think it's shameful that this has been called a hoax. hopefully today we can clear that up. this is not a hoax. this is real. there are real survivors. there are real victims to this criminal enterprise. and the perpetrators are being protected because they're rich and powerful and political donors to the establishment here in washington, d.c. so today we're standing with these survivors and we're giving them a voice. and i want to close by thanking

them. they are brave. i hope they encourage other survivors to come forward and to tell their stories, not just of jeffrey epstein and maxwell, but anywhere in the country. this is a this is a message that we are sending. this is a litmus test. can we drain the swamp? are there people who are outside of the reach of the law? i don't think there should be. so hopefully today we'll get two more signatures on the discharge petition. that's all we need. and with that, i want to introduce the bravest woman in congress, marjorie taylor greene. i find it interesting that the three republican co-sponsors are women. these are women standing up for women. and marjorie was the first to do it. and i think she deserves all of our gratitude for breaking that barrier and leading the way for the other republicans.

hopefully, they can find their spines as well. and with that, i give you marjorie taylor greene. good morning. this is my fifth year in congress, and this is the largest press conference that i've seen since i've been here. and this is because this is an issue that matters so much to americans. this is an issue that doesn't have political boundaries. it's an issue that republicans and democrats should never fight about. as a matter of fact, it's such an important issue that it should bring us all together. it's grieved me to watch the arguments and debates take place among my colleagues and even the administration. i think this is something that was worth fighting for. you see, the women behind me are going to tell you stories that you've never heard before. these are unimaginable horrors that they've lived with for their entire lives since they

were very, very young. but these are also similar stories that many children, teenagers, women and even men are enduring nightmares right now as we speak. you see these women have been fighting since the 1990. i heard one woman tell us yesterday, since. 1996, and they have carried with them shame. but i want to tell you something. the shame does not fall on these brave, courageous women. the shame falls on every single person that coldly turn to a blind eye to their abuse. the shame falls on every single person that enabled it. the shame falls on every single person that took money to continue it. and the shame falls on the people in power. over the past several decades, that protected the monster. jeffrey epstein and his cabal

that continued a nightmare. those people deserve the shame. and today we are coming forward and we are going to fight like hell for these women because we have to fight like hell for those that are enduring sexual abuse and are living in a prison of shame. anyone that is being abused. it is not your fault. you should live with no guilt or fear or shame. all of the fault belongs to the evil people that do these things, to the innocent. this is the most important fight we can wage here in congress is fighting for innocent people that never receive justice. and the women behind me have never received justice. and do you want to know why? it's because jeffrey epstein somehow was able to walk among the most rich, powerful people, not only in america, but foreign countries.

yesterday, i heard countries like saudi arabia, russia and even israel and other countries. the truth needs to come out and the government holds the truth that the cases that are sealed hold the truth. jeffrey epstein's estate that holds the truth. the fbi, the doj and the cia holds the truth and the truth. we are demanding come out on behalf of these women, but also as a strong message to every innocent child teenager. woman and man. that is being held captive in abuse. this should never happen in america and it should never be a political issue that divides us. and i want to thank roxana and thomas massey for doing something brave. crossing political boundaries for a very important fight.

and i'm honored to join both of them. and i'm honored that nancy mace and lauren boebert signed the discharge petition along with myself. and i asked my republican colleagues not to choose just one path for justice and transparency and accountability. but i asked my republican colleagues to choose every path for justice and accountability and transparency. and with that, i'd like to bring back congressman ro khanna to start this important press conference. thank you very much. thank you. thank you, congresswoman greene, for your courage and for being here. and thank you again to congressman massie for calling it. i now would like to introduce to people who have been fighting this for decades. they haven't had their voice heard. the victims haven't been heard. they haven't just been on this in the last few months. they've been doing this in the wilderness for years. and they are really models of

courage. bradley edwards and brittany henderson, who are the attorneys for the victims. thank you for being. thank you. roe and thomas massie, i really appreciate you putting forth this discharge petition. it's tough to understand and that we have to be here because this doesn't seem like a partizan issue. this is an issue sex trafficking and sexual abuse transcends politics. we, as americans expect equal protection under the law. and there can be no doubt that jeffrey epstein received far greater protection than any of the victims that he abused for years within 2008. courtney wild walked into my office because she was a part of a federal investigation into jeffrey epstein. we're all she wanted was the government to talk to her. little did she know the government had worked out a secret immunity deal for jeffrey

epstein, and we had to file, you know, jane doe's versus united states of america to prove the jeffrey epstein worked out an illegal non-prosecution agreement with the government. that was 2008. it took us ten years battling the government pro-bono for the judge to ultimately determine that the victims rights were violated. the government has has mistreated them. after jeffrey epstein mistreated them. we then filed civil lawsuits against glenn maxwell, which has resulted in her being in prison. our civil lawsuits led to her prosecution. we filed lawsuits against jeffrey epstein, against his estate, and against two financial institutions, jp morgan and deutsche bank, that proved that they provided knowingly provided the financial infrastructure for a sex trafficking operation. unfortunately, all of the documents and evidence that we have worked so hard to gather hide behind protective orders, confidentiality agreements and bank secrecy laws. that is why this discharge

petition is so important. while we have seen the documents, you haven't. and when you see the documents, you're going to be appalled. and the american people deserve to see everything. when you signed this discharge petition, it should mean nothing is off limits. that means the documents in the possession of the cia should be made available. those in the possession of the fbi going back decades should be made available. the cc financial records in the possession of vince then should be made available. everybody knows that evil evil flourishes in the darkness. corruption flourishes in secrecy. it is time, right now to make a difference for the women that are behind me right now. they have been courageous and fought through this whole thing. whether you are a republican or you're a democrat, this one is an easy call. you're an american who cares about equal rights and equal protection under the law. if you care about these women, if you care about our country and you care about this issue,

this should pass with flying colors. i really appreciate everybody being here. all right. good morning. my name is brittany henderson, and i think in addition to thanking the wonderful congressmen and women who are here today, we need to thank the women and not just the women who are going to speak, but the other women who are standing behind them, along with other lawyers, sigrid macaulay and people who have been fighting for a very, very long time for the world to give this kind of attention to an issue that it should have had forever. this administration has the opportunity to do what the past administrations did not do. it's administer action can either stand with the victims and stand for the victims or it can continue to hurt the victims like has happened in the past. we aren't here just to ask for transparency, though. we're here to to ask for protection. the women here represent hundreds of other women who we have spoken to, many of whom were trafficked from other countries, from eastern european

countries, where women don't have the rights that we have here. women don't have the protections that we have here. and those women are terrified that their names will be released in these files. the government won't know that they're victims to redact and protect them. so we ask that you please, whoever is going to be in charge of redacting these files and in charge of this transparency, do it in a way that protects the women brave enough to be here, but also protects the women who are terrified that every day when they turn the tv on something bad is going to happen to them. in ukraine, in russia, in whatever country they live in, because no one is listening to them. they're. so thank you for being here. thank you for listening. and please protect these women while we seek transparency. good morning. my name is anoushka digiorgio, and i stand before you today as a survivor of both jeffrey epstein and glenn maxwell. i want to thank congressman massey and conner for their role in putting together this very,

very important bill. every day of this journey toward healing has come at a profound cost to my mental health. but i am here. i chose to come because this bill really matters. i speak today not only in service of my own recovery from trauma inflicted by maxwell, an epstein, but to honor the lives the courage and sacrifices of virginia. giuffre caroline andrew on their and others who could not continue their voices mattered. their stories must not be forgotten. i accountability is what makes a society 80 civilized, equal opportunity and equal consequence for all. consequences are not about punishment alone. they exist to deter future harm, to protect vulnerable, and to set a standard of justice. if glenn maxwell were pardoned,

it would undermine all the sacrifices i made to testify and make mockery of mine and all survivors suffering. that is why the epstein files transparency act is so essential. it requires the department of justice release all the records related to epstein and maxwell investigations, flight logs, immunity deals, internal communications, and even the records surrounding epstein's detention and death. and, crucially, it forbids withholding documents simply because of embarrassment, reputation or harm or political sensitivity. this is about ending secrecy. wherever abuse of power takes root. but transparency alone is not enough. survivors need protection, resources and legal support. if this congress is serious about justice, then let this moment also affirm your commitment to provide victims with the legal aid they need to confront abuses, to navigate

complex systems, and to reclaim their power. transparency must be matched by support, or else too many victims will remain silent out of fear and lack of access. the statistics demand action. nearly one in five women in america will experience rape or attempted rape in her lifetime. every 74 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted every 9 minutes. that person is a child. these are not numbers. they are people. they are your daughters, your sons, your constituents, your friends. statistically, one in five of your families will face this nightmare. the days of sweeping this under the rug are over. we, the survivors, say no more. i want to help create a world where survivors of sexual abuse and abuse of power can come forward safely.

and i ask congress to join me in that effort. not only by passing this bill, but by ensuring that those who step forward have legal support to face their abusers and see justice done. when judge berman gave epstein survivors the chance to finally speak, the world listened. after so many years, survivors were heard. that moment was historic, and so is this moment. for me, the turning point. was when i had my daughter. and on the day she was born, i knew i had a responsibility to protect her and to protect to protect all children all over the world. i have to use my voice, the voice that had been silenced by fear and shame for so many years. make no mistake, my politics theory is a shield hiding a

wound that still bleeds. but through this wound, i have found purpose. to be part of lasting change in how we confront exploitation and abuse. and to be clear, the only motive for opposing this bill would be to conceal wrongdoing. you have a choice. stand with the truth or with the lies that have protected predators for decades. grow. i am no longer weak. i am no longer powerless and are no longer alone. and with your vote, neither will the next generation be president trump. you have so much influence and power in this situation. please use that influence and power to help us because we need it now. and this country needs it now. thank you.

hello. my name is annie farmer and i was 16 years old when i was flown to new mexico to spend the weekend with epstein and maxwell. that same year, 1996, my sister maria farmer reported what happened to me there, along with reporting her own assaults at their hands and their theft of sensitive photos of herself, of me and our younger sister that she had taken for her work as a figurative painter. i am now 46 years old, 30 years later, we still do not know why that report wasn't properly investigated or why epstein and his associates were allowed to harm hundreds, if not thousands of other girls and young women. we have never been told whether those images were found when they discovered a large amount of child sexual abuse material on his property. as a psychology, yes, i understand that when the systems meant to protect us, recreate

the abuse cycle, the betrayal that occurs can be just as damaging as the original trauma. this happens when survivors of these crimes are not believed. when our well-being is not weighed as heavily as those who have more resources or more privilege. and when perpetrators of these crimes are given a platform, rather than the survivors of them, for so many years, it felt like epstein's criminal behavior was an open secret. not only did many others participate in the abuse, it is clear that many were aware of his interest in girls and very young women and chose to look the other way because it benefited them to do so. they wanted access to his circle and his money. their choice to align with his power. let those of us who had been harmed by this man and his associates feeling very isolated. i could never have imagined being here today. and this chorus of support that

we have all received. i have been sent so many notes and messages from people with no direct connection to this case who expressed their solidarity with us. and i believe that is because in part, as anoushka so explained so well, this is an extremely widespread issue of child sexual abuse, of sexual exploitation, of sexual violence. this affects almost every family in some way. from my conversations with women in these last few days and from all of the support that we've received, 8 to 209. the previous question is ordere. the question is on the adoption of the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. mcgovern: ask for a recorded

vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedins for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the previous question i went and worked for jeffrey instead of receiving an education every day, i hope that he would offer me a real job as one of his assistant or something, something important. i would finally have made it big as, like we say, the american dream, that they never came. i had no way. i had no way out. i was until you finally told me that i was too old. there are many pieces of my story that i can't remember, no matter how hard i try. the constant state of wonder causes me so much fear and so much confusion. my therapist says that my brain is just trying to protect itself, but it's so hard to begin to heal knowing that there are people out there who know more about my abuse than i do. the worst part is that the government is still in

possession right. now of the documents and information about the car that could help me remember and get over all of this. maybe and help me heal. they have documents with my name on them that were confiscated from jeffrey epstein's house and could help me put the pieces of my own life back together. but i don't have any of it. and i know the same is true for many of these women. we are here to support this bill today, not only for transparency, but for the american people. but. if the government is going to release these documents to the public describing the crimes committed by jeffrey epstein and others, the least they can do is

give me my documents that they have about me. the other survivors deserve the same respect from our government. why identify information must be redacted to the public. it is equally important to provide the victims themselves with unredacted information. i will never forget when the fbi agents showed up at my door in 2008. jeffrey epstein hired a lawyer to represent me or more like to represent him. i like to say i couldn't ask any questions and i had no idea what was going on. i was terrified. until today, i think most of us are still terrified. i thought somebody was going to kill me. i thought something was going to happen to my sister or my mother. it went further out, even maybe thinking something would happen in brazil with my family. and then one day, the lawyer said that everything was just going to go away like nothing

happened. i didn't need to testify. when i asked him why, he gave no explanation. that was it. so why? why was i never called to testify? then we could have saved so many women. we could have saved so many lives from being abused. why did he get away with that in 2008? why was he able to go on in the abuse with hundreds of girls after the flawed investigation? why didn't they let me testify to help stop him? our government couldn't have saved could have saved so many women. but jeffrey epstein was too important. and those women didn't matter. why? well, we matter now. we are here today, and we are speaking and we are not going to stop speaking. today, i stand here with the women who have really helped me

to find the strength to come out and come forward to share my story for the very first time. together, we are stronger than ever. while she may not be with us, virginia roberts, we will continue to use our voices to strengthen yours. always. thank you. hi. my name is courtney wild. i just wanted to take a second and just have a moment of silence for all the women survivors that aren't here with us today that passed away due to anxiety, depression, trying to keep up with this case. a moment of silence, please. thank you. my name is courtney wild. i was only 14 years old when i was introduced to jeffrey

epstein by a 13 year old friend of mine. the details of the abuse that he inflicted on me for years is not important today. and 2028, i was cooperating with the federal government. government, the nays are 208 and one voting present. the resolution is adopted the resolution is adopted. without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. pursuant to the adoption of the house resolution 672, house resolution 668 and house resolution 605 are adopted.

the house will be in order. the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? mr. higgins: mr. speaker, i rise to a question of the privileges of the house and offer the resolution that was previously noticed. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 539, whereas on may 9, 2025, representative mciver took part in an incident at the delaney hall federal immigration facility located in newark, new

jersey. whereas representative lamonica mciver of new jersey as a result of her actions on may 9, 2025, has been charged in a lee count indictment by a federal grand jury for assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with federal officers. whereas representative mciver is legged to have challenged guidance from a federal officer regarding access to a secure immigration detention facility. whereas mciver is alleged to have interfered with homeland security investigations, h.s.i. officials from making an arrest of an unauthorized visitor. whereas representative mciver is alleged to have slammed -- the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will suspend. the house is not in order. the clerk will continue. the clerk: whereas representative mciver is alleged to have slammed her forearm into the body and restrained an h.s.i. officer by forcibly

grabbing him. whereas representative mciver alleged to have further interfered with an immigration and customs enforcement deportation officer engaged in the performance of his official duties. the speaker pro tempore: members, the house is not in order. the clerk: whereas representative mciver's alleged to have further interfered with an immigration and customs enforcement deportation officer engaged in the performance of

his official duties. whereas, body camera and other video evidence support allegations made within the federal indictment. whereas, such actions constitute a violation of section 111. 8-1 of title 18 united states code relating to assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with a federal officer. whereas, clause 1 of rule 23 of the rules of the house of representatives provides a member, delegate, resident commissioner, officer, or employee of the house shall behave at all times in manner that shall reflect credibly on the house. whereas such actions of a member of the house of representatives do not reflect credibly on the house and whereas representative mciver's continued service on the committee on homeland security which is charged with oversight of federal immigration enforcement and other national security matters would represent a significant conflict of interest. now therefore be it resolved, section one, censure of representative lamonica mciver.

representative lamonica mciver, one, is censured. two, shall forthwith present herself in the well of the house of representatives for the pronouncement of censure. and three, is censured with the public reading of this resolution by the speaker. section 2, removal from the committee on homeland security. the following named member be and is hereby removed from the following standing committee of the house of representatives, committee on homeland security, mrs. mciver. the speaker pro tempore: the resolution presents a question of privilege of the house. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from massachusetts seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i have a motion at the specific. the clerk: report the motion. the clerk: ms. clark of massachusetts moves to lay the resolution on the table. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to table. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the motion -- ms. clark: mr. speaker, i request a call of the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

objection, the motive. but i was such an innocent kid then. i always did my best in school and i had such a positive outlook on life until that day that i met jeffrey, i have never been more scared in my life than i was that first time that he hurt me. i remember crying the entire way home, thinking about how i couldn't ever tell anyone about what actually happened in that house. this guy was so rich and. had so many pictures with so many famous people, and no one would have ever believed me if i told them. i want to thank congressman ro and congressman thomas massie for having me here today. it was really hard for me to find my voice and it becomes strong enough to speak about my

abuse. i did not come forward until 12 2019, and even when. and even then it was like i was afraid of a ghost. i know that i was just a little kid, but sometimes i still feel like it is my fault that this happened. being given the opportunity to speak at the united states capitol building about something that is so important, not just to me and the women before you, but to the entire country. together, we can finally make a change, and that is thanks to the people like these two congressmen and their teams who actually care about the victims. if you are a member of congress and you are listening to all of us speak here today, please really listen to us. please vote for this bill to be passed. please recognize how important it is for transparency. see relating to jeffrey epstein, whether you are a democrat or a

republican, this does not matter. this is not about sides. you are an american and you are a person who has chosen to serve in an elected position to stand up for those you represent who cannot always stand up for themselves. we are those people. we are the americans that you promised to protect and you and we need your help. please, president trump, pass this bill and help us make us feel like our voices are finally being heard. thank you. thank you. and good afternoon. my name is haley robson. i was a 16 year old high school student athlete who made good grades and had high aspirations

for college. when i was recruited and asked by a classmate of mine alongside with a ten year old male if i wanted to give an old rich guy a massage. but what high school girl would not want to do that that day changed my life forever. and when i got into the massage room, jeffrey epstein. undressed and asked me to do things to him. my eyes welled up with tears and i have never been more scared in my life. when it was over, he made he paid me $200 and requested in exchange that i bring a girl each time to make another $200. i told him i did not want to do that. and then he gave me an ultimatum. either you come here and massage me when i call you, or you bring me friends of yours to massage me. and i will give you 200 per girl for each time she comes. i felt and hope to never hear from him again, but he called me every day. he was so wealthy and powerful and he would not let me go. i felt i had no choice.

if i disobeyed him, i knew something bad would happen. so knowing i did not want to be sexually abused, i'm sorry. i started to bring him other girls from my high school and he paid me $200, $200 for bringing them. i just hoped each time it would be the last time. one day, the step mom of one of the girls brought him and called the police on jeffrey epstein. the police then called me, called me in for questioning. i had told them the truth despite the fact that i was a teenager and a minor, and i was able to tell the police the names of all the other victims, the police treated me like a criminal. i had by this time had turned 18. i had been with jeffrey since i was 16 and for two years. so they had told me, i distribute, i distributed to the so they told me i was going to be arrested. my name was then distributed to the press as a coconspirator of my abuser, who i detested. my entire world was crashing in around me and i started being

threatened and bullied till this day, still receiving death threats. i was singled out and for many years had to suffer a smear campaign of lies about me because of the way that i was portrayed by the press. the press made me out to be a predator when i was just a 16 year old little girl who was sexually abused by a powerful man and an evil man. for years, i had no friends. my boyfriend was murdered and there was nowhere to turn. the government, after investigating more, learned that i was truly a victim. but the damage was done and it was too late. there was no way to undo the harm the press had caused me. in 2019, i met brad in brittany, and i met edwards and britney henderson. they changed my life and they believed in me and have helped me to finally heal. healing is a process and i may never get there, but the passage of this bill requiring the government to produce all the evidence that it has gathered on

jeffrey epstein and ghislaine maxwell is a huge component of healing for me and for the many other women who have suffered for so long for many reasons. first, we and the rest of the world need answers. why was he so protected and didn't anyone ever care to stop him? it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that if he is spending thousands of dollars a day paying high school girls to abuses and other access to all and had a lot of access to cash, i learned through my attorneys and the jp jp morgan class action case that there were years when his staff withdrew over $1,000,000 in cash a year. was that not a big enough flag? there were riots, transfers to other victims and the government and the government did not protect us. the banks did not protect us. so we owe chevron president are to the motion is adopted. and while the objection to reconsider is laid on the 207.

one voting present.on the 207. the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

i. the house will be in order. members are asked to take your conversations off the floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas seek recognition? mr. westerman: pursuant to house resolution 672 i call up h.j.res. 74 and ask for its

consideration in the house. the clerk: house joint resolution 104 a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of title 8 united statescode submitted by the bureau of land management relating to miles field office and management plan amendment. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. ladies and gentlemen, please remove your conversations from the floor so we can conduct the business of the house. pursuant to house resolution 672 the joint resolution is considered read. the joint resolution shall be debated for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member on the committee on natural resources or their respective designees. the gentleman from arkansas,

mr. westerman, and the gentleman from colorado plrks neguse, each will control 30 minutes. mr. westerman: i ask unanimous consent that all members may be given five legislative days to revise and extend their reharks and include extraneous material on h.j.res. 74. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in strong support of 104 sponsored by representative downing. this would repeal the bureau of land management plan amendment for the miles city office in montana finalizedded under the biden administration, this resource management plan locked up 11.7 million acres of land to put that in perspective that is an area of the states of rhode island, delaware, connecticut and new jersey combined. r.m.p.'s were collaborative pea

approaches that balanced multd am uses, outdoor recreation, grazing and timber harvesting. they guide public land management in a way that provides fuel, food and fiber for the nation and conserves our natural resources. this is the backbone of western rural economy and support thousands of good paying jobs. that's what makes the miles city resource plan egregious. this ended future leasing of the basin dealing a blow to america's energy security and threatening montana jobs and economic growth. the national security and economic importance of this region cannot be overstated. montana holds 30% of our coal reserves. coal from the powder river basin produced in montana and wyoming

make up 85% and 40% of coal production this the entire united states. coal is reliable and affordable and we know we are going to need this base load of power as like that demands continue to skyrocket. if your state has coal we should be developing it and not burying it and no one rusees coal cleaner than the united states. nobody understands this better than president trump who is reversing the war on american energy and new age of dominance. he is putting montana over moscow and powder river basin over the p.r.c. we are advancing president trump's executive order on america's energy and reinvigorating america's clean coal energy. this will invigorate and access to 38 billion tons of coal enough to meet the demand.

passing representative downing will unleash the coal industry and generate millions of dollars in revenue for the united states and state of montana. this will generate revenue for the federal government over the next decade and this protects 46 million in annual revenue for montana's k-12 public education service. and there are good paying jobs in the industry and broad positive economic effects of producing energy at home. c.r.a. isn't just about montana, this is about national security and montana's mining ensure that there is a strategic advantage over our adversaries. we can be sure of one thing, the people that benefit not harvesting are sitting in beijing, china and building new

coal-fired power plants at a rate of one per week. unleashing american energy shouldn't be a partisan energy. it brings down like that prices for families and boosts real wages for americans to keep our economy running. this is good grid reliability, energy affordability and enis suring that states coos the country have access to base load power especially during extreme peak demand. it creates jobs and provides revenue and our national security. i commend the entire montana delegation for their work and leadership on this issue. i encourage my colleagues to support the c.r.a. and i reserve. . . .

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. neguse: we are on the floor this week debating three congressional review act resolution that is would overturn balanced, forward-looking resource management plans, or r.m.p.'s that have been carefully developed over the past four years. now, with all due respect to my friend and colleague, the chairman, i heard a lot of slogans a couple references to moscow, i will just tell you the c.r. a. before this body is very simple. it is an effort by house republicans to do something that has never been done before in the history of the congressional review act. which is to overturn a resource management plan. why? you might ask, mr. speaker, do republicans intend to take this unprecedented step? simple. because they like to open up millions of acres in montana, in

north dakota, and elsewhere to coal extraction. that's it. very simple. we can probably dispense with the -- i guess there is an hour of debate we are allocated for purposes of these c.r.a.'s. it doesn't get more complicated than that. balanced resource management plans that were developed in consultation with the communities and the states at issue and this republican congress has decided that it is of the utmost priority to via legislative action overturn resource management plans, that by the way, mr. speaker, could simply be reversed with a phone call to the secretary of the interior. last time i checked, the secretary of interior happens to be the former governor of north dakota. so insofar as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are so invested in overturning this

resource management plan, perhaps they should call the former governor of north dakota who now works two miles from the u.s. capitol as the secretary of interior and ask the agency to follow the process by which a resource management plan is historically reconsidered. instead, we are here on the house floor debating a c.r.a. on the resource management plan. a giveaway to some of the biggest mining and oil companies on the planet. that's how house republicans have decided to spend our time on the floor today. there are a lot of priorities, mr. speaker, that my constituents back in colorado believe this house should consider. reversing the draconian and

cruel health care cuts that house republicans pushed through just a mere seven weeks ago. that is at the top of the list. i can tell you what's not on the list. c.r.a. resolutions to overturn resource management plans so that more coal extraction and mining could be done in montana. that's not on the list of priorities of my constituents. and i suspect that's the case for the vast majority of americans. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. mr. westerman: all americans should have on the top of their priority list energy security and national security, when we block off millions of acres of land from any kind of energy development that's something that should come to the top on priorities. i heard mention of balance. to think that there was balance

in the r.m.p. that the biden administration put out, especially on this land in montana, is no kind of balance that i have ever seen. it's totally unbalanced. it locks things down, shuts things off. and gives the american people the -- to deal with the ramifications of it with higher energy price, less reliable energy, and also less national security. with that i yield four minutes to the gentleman from montana who knows more about montana than -- i guess he and representative zinkey know more about -- zingano more about montana than anybody. he's the lead sponsor of the situation, mr. downing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from montana is recognized for four minutes. mr. downing: i thank the gentleman from arkansas for yielding time. i rise in support of my resolution, h.j.res. 104. for four years president biden

and his auto pen waged war on american energy. he targeted the very foundations of our energy independence. no industry felt the brunt of the administration's attack more than the coal industry. coal mines, coal-fired power plants in the communities they support were pushed to the brink of collapse. the 2024 amendment to the mile city resource management plan would have cut off access to 30% of the nation's coal reserves. 30%. the vast majority of americans rely on coal for at least part of their electricity every sing daily. at no point did biden's bureau of land management stop to consider the $46 million in lost revenue to the state of montana. money that helps pay for k through 12 education. make no mistake, this amendment was not a moderate science-based decision. this was the heavy hand of big government crushing an entire industry in the name of a

radical green new deal agenda. it was the inevitable result of an anti-human, america america last ideology -- america last ideology that was knocked on its heals any wake of president trump's leaks. today i'm thankful to have opportunity to reverse this rule before damage could be done. today we are advancing president trump's executive order to expand american energy production and achieve energy dominance. we are standing up for the people of coal strip, for the workers of eastern montana, the thousands of montanans whose livelihoods depend on responsible coal production. we are standing up for affordable electricity for state and local government that is rely on revenue from federal leases and for a commonsense energy strategy that does not depend on imports from adversaries like china. this resolution is not about politics. it's about putting working families before bureaucrats. it's about keeping the lights on

in america. keep paychecks flowing in montana. when the federal government acts recklessly, it is a responsibility of congress to step in and course correct. that is exactly what h.j.res. 104 does. the war on coal must end. must end here with a vote to overturn this dangerous and shortsighted rule. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on h.j.res. 104, and send a clear message that energy security, economic stability, and the voices of rural america will not be ignored. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arkansas reserves. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. neguse: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield to the distinguished ranking member of the natural resources committee as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time he may consume. >> thank you, mr. chair. i thank the gentleman from colorado. mr. chairman, i strongly oppose all three of these congressional review act resolutions on the

floor because the reality is these would overhaul years of public input. they would silence tribal voices, erase science-based planning all so that this administration can hand millions of acres of our public lands over to the fossil fuel industry. mr. huffman: for extraction. public lands should be our country's proudest legacy. they are our natural heritage, a national treasure. the agencies responsible for twowarding them, the bureau of land management and forest service diligently manage these resources for the future through the development, careful development of these resource management plans and forest plans. the b.l.m. plans, or m.p.'s, are carely crafted to establish safeguards for wildlife, recreationaries, watersheds, and identify suitable areas for energy development as well. and that includes also grazing

and logging and other commercial activities. they have to balance all of it in these r.m.p.'s. it's based on a robust input from communities, stakeholders, the public on government-to-government consultation with the impacted tribes as well. but the republican majority has proven time and again that they don't want any of that public process. they simply want to hand things over to big oil and big coal. this week they are right back at it. they are making us vote on legislation that would turn public lands, the management of public lands, upside-down, throwing it into chaos and all to just score that quick win for their fossil fuel buddies because the existing plans don't giveaway the store the way they would like to do. it doesn't matter that this might upend the system that grants land ownership to alaska native veterans of the vietnam war which is one of these

r.m.p.'s does. or tribal governments have spent years working in good faith with the federal government to develop land management plans that both allow for energy development and protect subsistence hunting and fishing resources. that's what they are blowing up with these c.r.a.'s. not to mention if these c.r.a.'s are signed into lashings the validity of every single permit, lease, and federal approval that's been issued based on one of these r.m.p.'s would suddenly be called into question and subject to litigation. i will remind my colleagues once again, they don't have to go down this road. the gentleman from colorado mentioned that the c.r.a. has never been used to overturn a resource management plan. there are perfectly valid ways for achieving the same goals in the federal land policy and management act. it's what the biden administration did to update these plans, and it's what the trump administration has already announced it intends to do.

so i certainly expect to disagree with the outcomes an objectives of the trump administration's efforts to amend these r.m.p.'s, if they follow the formal process at least, though, we would have a chance to make our case in that process. and it wouldn't imperil existing permits and leases. most importantly it would require community input and tribal consultation. i strongly urge my colleagues, let's not continue this race to the bottom. you have already thrown so many norms out the window. also disregarded democrats in all of our legislation. you started this radical appropriations process where it's party line republican only. so many norms being trashed. and now for the first time you are going to do this using the c.r.a. to resource management plans. stop the race to the bottom. vote against this c.r.a. resolution package. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. mr. westerman: mr. speaker, i just want to point out that the c.r.a.'s do have tribal consultation. if there wasn't tribal consultation it was during the development of the r.m.p. in fact, i ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter from the navajo transitional energy company in support of the c.r.a. repealing the mile city r.m.p. amendment. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. westerman: the navajo transitional energy company is the third largest coal producer in the united states and operates three mines in the powder river basin. they were strongly opposed to the previous r.m.p. amendment and support this c.r.a. to quote, preserve family sustaining wages for miners, engineers, and support staff across montana,nd quote. the n.t.e.c. also stated the r.m.p., quote, prohibits the leasing of federal coal leaving skilled workers questioning the sustainability of the current economic environment.

passing the c.r.a. resolution sends a clear message to families, small businesses, and energy partners that montana is opened for responsible development, end quote. with that, mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from wyoming, mrs. hageman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for three minutes. mrs. hageman: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise today in strong support of the congressional review act joint resolution that is we are bringing forward to overturn the biden administration's disastrous and radical resource management plans. beginning with h.j.res. 104 to refeel the -- repeal the mile city r.m.p. in montana to ensure continued access to the powder river basin. these biden-ary plans lacked balanced resource management and our mineral withdrawals in disguise which runs contrary to federal law. they lock up america's resources, kill jobs, and undermine energy security. the mile city resource management plan amendment combined with the buffalo r.m.p. amendment in wyoming binds

future coal leasing across the power river basin, which holds 30% of our nation's coal reserves. the powder river basin does not just power montana and wyoming, however, but our nation at large. the mile city plan strips away access to 37.8 billion short tons of coal enough to make u.s. demand for the next 73 years. the consequences are vast, including higher energy costs for american families, the loss of $46 million annually in montana state revenue that supports public education, and elimination of countlessest high paying jobs that cuss stain hurl communities. wyoming knows this fight. where the buffalo field office was hit with the same lawsuits and agency overreach, the bureaucrats pushing alternatives that are nothing more than a back door energy dance. for four years, our government

tried to impose american energy poverty. when the powder river basin turns off, so does america. energy security is national security. the biden administration undermind both. by restricting resources it pushes america on dependence to foreign nations. i applaud montana for introducing this resolution which alliance with trump's executive orders to's invague rate clean coal and restore strength to our energy policy and put the needs of constituents first. i urge my colleagues to support this and restore energy dominance. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. neguse: i thank the

speaker. with respect to the miles city resource management plan, the update, it is important to say that it was a very extensive and inclusive public commentary, b.l.m. provided a 90 hoif pa day public period and 60-day review period for the governor. and contacted over 45 plieft land owners to help refine and guide development for that r.f.p. amendment and it was instrumental in shaping a plan that reflects the values of the communities it impacts. i want to go back to i guess a core point that the ranking member articulated previously and i wonder perhaps the chairman, mostly empty chamber here, maybe he might engage in a bit of discourse and a

colloquy. i am trying to understand why the c.r.a. is necessary given that the interior department retains the ability to amend and modify these resource management plans in any way that the secretary deems necessary. and i wonder, mr. speaker, i might inquire as to whether the chair could help us better understand why they have decided to go with a c.r.a. rather than amending the resource management plan. i reserve in response to that colloquy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves. mr. westerman: thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: i can hear you.

mr. westerman: in regards to my colleague's request for a colloquy, it's necessary to do a c.r.a. because the previous administration should bad resource management plans. had they not issued those, we wouldn't be here. the thing about c.r.a. congress passes this law, then another administration can't go back and put it in place. i think my colleagues fear this process of using the c.r.a. because it would be up to future congresses to go back and do if we pass the congressional review act. and we are here today the biden administration unbalance the scales and put burdens on states and natural resources and on the ability to produce our energy here. so, they started it by issuing

the bad r.m.p. and we will finish it bypassing a c.r.a. and i recognize two minutes to the the gentlewoman from colorado. mrs.boebert: thank you to chairman westerman for bringing this up todd today. i rise in support of this which nullifies the bureau of land management miles city resource management plan. this resolution is a critical step towards restoring american energy dominance, a corner stone of president trump's agenda to restore our economic future. the b.l.m. rules stifles development in montana limiting access to our abundant natural resources and threatening the livelihood of our ranchers, energy workers and small

businesses while imposing land management policies that undermines the very community that power our great nation. h.j.j. res has the vision to unleash by removing regulatory barriers and piratizing domestic production. this resolution ensures our lands are used to bolster energy security, not obstruct it. passing h.j.res. 104 we champion affordable reliable energy for all americans and stand with president trump's mission to neighboring america energy dominant protect jobs and empower our communities. vote in favor of this resolution and i yield back. mr. westerman: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado. mr. neguse: facts matter.

under president trump americans are paying more for their like that than ever before, ever before. energy costs right now are higher than they have ever been. they are increasing at twice the rate of inflation. so spare us lectures about energy costs as republicans preside over an economy over which everything is getting more expensive. health care more expensive, groceries more expensive, energy costs going through the roof. seriously? their answer to this? more coal. that's it. that's the sum total of the republican response for the cost of living crisis in the united states of america from car san saw to colorado, more coal, that's their prescription, mr. speaker. i can tell you in colorado, we certainly don't think that is a

prudent approach and i will also say and i regret that the speaker couldn't indulge me in a colloquy with the chairman, but he did reveal the plot here, mr. speaker, in his answer, as to what the impetus was for the c.r.a. it is not as simple as amending or modifying the resource management plan. the reason house republicans are pursuing this tool is to prevent not just this interior department but any interior department into perpetuity from issuing a resource management plan that is substantially similar for the one that is at issue here. that is what is about. i don't think my colleagues on my side of the aisle will be confused by the chairman's arguments, but just in case, i

want to make sure it's crystal clear for the record that a vote in favor of the c.r.a. is not a vote to modify or amend the resource management plan but a vote the to prevent the agency and sub agency from promulgating any resource management plan that remotely tries to do something similar. i understand my colleague again, the other side of the aisle have reasons for pursuing that, more coal. sum total, two words. but in my view, most americans would agree that this isn't how we should be spending our time. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arkansas. mr. westerman: i have reasons wanting to lower energy costs across america. last time i checked at the gas pump, the energy prices are going down there but there is a

huge demand for energy that is driven by ai with unimaginable amounts of energy required. i heard about a dentist that would require the amount of like that to run the city of denver five times over in a year. one data center needing that much energy. we are seeing like that increase because there is more demand and we haven't kept up with the demand. the chinese on the other hand, are building new coal-fired plant at the rate of every two days they are building a new coal-fired plant. but they are trying to beat us in this race in ai and not let energy being the deciding factor. i yield five minutes to the

gentleman from minnesota, mr. stauber. mr. stauber: i rise today in strong support of these three c.r.a. resolutions that reverse the biden administration's bureau of land management that attack alaska, attack north dakota and attack montana, locking up millions of acres of land from responsible oil and gas and coal development. last year, on the way out of the office, the biden administration finalizedded these three resource management plans that not only threaten miners and energy workers across alaska, montana and millions of dollars indirect state and federal taxes and royalties. these dangerous policies jeopardize the entire united states and access to reliable affordable energy. these resource management plans

were just another example of the biden administration's anywhere but america, any worker but america coon energy agenda. they just couldn't help themselves launching one last attack on american energy or our energy independence. even on the way out of office. mr. speaker, over the past four years, my colleagues in this chamber heard me speak out against the biden administration attempt to attack my constituents and shut down northern minnesota. at every single turn, the biden administration tried to shut down responsible mining in northern minnesota the largest nickel copper mine. what the administration did to northern minnesota, they did to alaska, north dakota and montana. the c.r.a. before us today will reverse the biden administration

antiresource responsibilities and allow mining oil and gas projects to continue through the regulatory and environmental review process allowing them to fight another day. most importantly, theseries likes will prevent future administrations from taking similar actions in the future. i want to thank my colleagues from alaska, north dakota and montana for introducing these resolution to reverse the disastrous biden administration's policies and i urge my colleagues to support these today. the prior administration, mr. speaker, was the most antimining, antioil and gas administration in the history of this country. i was up in alaska and national refuge and ects tracting oil safely and responsibly that the people of alaska need.

going to put a pipeline, the safest in the world information the people of alaska for this country and its allies. it's going to take a lot of years to fix the disastrous policies of the last straying. remember, that secretary of interior banned mining in northeast minnesota and when asked in the senate, why did you stop these critical minerals from coming alford he said i didn't think there were critical minerals there. it was the biggest find in the world. we have the opportunity today to start changing these disastrous biden policies and get this economy turning. we must become energy independent and we need coal so much, we cannot rely on adversarial nations for our much

strategic national security supply. our supply chains need to be coming from american workers, american development, american communities, american technology, american workers, american families. we can do it. we have to have the political will to do it. and these three c.r.a.'s are worth voting for. and i commend my colleagues from these three states and there might be more coming in the near future because of the disastrous decisions of that prior administration. this is a breath of fresh air across america right now. . . . . as the chairman just talked about, a reduction in the gas prices. that's real money for the working class, middle class american peoples.

when they can save $15 or $20 at the gas pump. that's real money. they can save money on their natural gas or propane to heat their gas. it's real money for the constituents i serve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. stauber: i yield back. mr. westerman: i have no further requests and am prepared to close and reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. neguse: i lost track at some point. but my colleague from minnesota i think said the word "biden" eight times if i'm not mistaken. couple that with the prior administration, that jumps up to 12 or 13. it's unclear to me when republicans are going to stop complaining and actually do something to address the challenges that face our country.

they spend more money talking about joe biden than reducing costs. every sentence from that side of the aisle, biden, a verb, and ad john kerrytive, and more coal. that's the sum total of every sentence. my colleagues i says puck are watching from their offices. i know more of my colleagues will come to the floor here to engage on debate on -- i don't know how many c.r.a.'s we're putting on the floor today, three, four, five? that's all they do around here is c.r.a.'s. i encourage those watching, maybe come to the floor and talk about your affirmative vision for the country and not so much time talking about the prior president. you are in charge. republicans have the majority in the house, a majority in the senate and the presidency. and we spend all our time on the house floor doing c.r.a.'s, resolutions of disapproval. the weakest vehicle that this house could consider. mr. speaker, i know you're aware of this, but the house has been

on vacation the last six weeks. the republicans recessed us out of session early six week vacation for republicans. finally, we're back in washington, september, 10 months into the trump presidency and this is how you choose to spend your time? resolutions of disapproval? reversing resource management plans for north dakota? of all the concerns of the people in arkansas or colorado, this is the priority? it's a shame, mr. speaker, deeply disappointing and disheartening, i suspect, to most americans who might be watching c-span, to learn that this agust -- august body in the

world's greatest democracy is wasting its time debating resource management plans issued by the prior administration. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arkansas reserves. colorado? mr. neguse: i thank the speaker. i will simply close and give a brief closing because, as i said, all we're doing today are these resolutions of disapproval, so i'm going to have more opportunities, apparently, to make this argument. but i would encourage my colleagues to dispense with what, in my view, are very intellectually dishonest arguments about these resource management plans. i think fundamentally they

should continue the work that was done by the prior administration through an open and transparent process. that's the way these resource management plans are meant to be developed. i get it, i understand my republican colleagues have disagreements about the resource management plans. understood. call secretary burger or the b.l.m. director -- or i don't think there is a director now 10 months into the administration. call whoever is running the show over there at the b.l.m. now and ask them to reopen the process. listen to tribes. listen to the american people. update the resource management plan. that's the way it's done. using the congressional review act to overturn the plan is the wrong approach.

i understand why it may seem easier for republicans to bring the hammer down and use this blunt instrument, but all you'll be left with are smashed pieces. and you will foreclose the ability of these agencies to protect some of the most treasureed lands in our country, lands that belong to the citizens of this country, to you, mr. speaker, and your children and your grandchildren. future generations. i urge a no vote on this c.r.a. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. westerman: mr. speaker, it's a good thing we have this tool called the congressional review act that asserts the article 1 authority that congress has. you see, we don't have to go begging a secretary or asking the administration what actions we take.

we get to determine what actions we take. and a congressional review act is one of those tools that we have to take a bighamer to a bad policy. and i'm glad that we're taking a big hammer to a terrible policy and making it clear that the future administration can't enact another bad policy, like the ones they put in place like the three r.m.p.'s they put in place. it's a good thing we're focusing on unleashing american energy and the time to do that is now. the time to restore balanced management to our public lands is now. it's now time to put big sky country ahead of beijing. it's pastime that we do that. if allowed to continue, the mile city arm developed could have devastating impacts on montana and the entire u.s. economy. passing this c.r.a. will help reinvigorate america's coal

industry and also, it will unleash american energy. in my district, i have a coal fired plant that was built in 2010, and to my knowledge, that was the last coal powered plant built in the united states. and i mentioned earlier, china is building 120 giga watts a year, that's one every two days. one of those 150 gigawatt coal plant they're putting online. what have we been doing with coal plants in america? we've been closing them down. they provide viable base load energy. and my coal district that provides energy to businesses and energy to homes, it can't operate without coal and that coal comes from the powder river basin. when we harness our resources out west and use those, it's a good thing. when we lock them up, we keep electricity from being affordable, we keep it from

being reliable, and not just for the constituents in montana but all across this country. that's one of the many reasons i'm supporting this c.r.a. today. it means affordable, reliable energy. it means improved national security. it means good paying jobs for rural americans and millions of dollars in revenue for the u.s. treasury. i urge the adoption of this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to house resolution 672, the previous question is ordered on the joint resolution. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the joint resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 united states code of the rules submitted by the bureau of land management relating to miles citi field

office record of decision and approved resource management plan amendment. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the passage of the joint resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the joint resolution is passed. mr. neguse: yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? mr. neguse: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on the question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas, mr. westerman, seek recognition? mr. westerman: pursuant to house resolution 672, i call up h.j. res. 106 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of

the joint resolution. the clerk: joint resolution 106, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 united states code of the rules submitted by the bureau of land management relating to central youkon record of decision and approval resource management plan. the speaker pro tempore: pursuan t to house resolution 672, the joint resolution is considered read. the joint resolution shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the committee on natural resources, their respective designees. the gentleman from arkansas, mr. westerman, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. neguse, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arkansas, mr. westerman. mr. westerman: i ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. westerman: and also to include extraneous material on h.j. res. 106. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. westerman: mr. speaker, i

yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: so moved. mr. westerman: i rise in strong support of h.j. resolution 106, the congressional review act resolution led by congressman nick begich of alaska. this c.r.a. reverses a resource management plan for the central youkon region of alaska which locked up an astonishing 1.3 million acres of land. alaska is crucial to our economic prosperity. in 2020 president trump announced a draft c.r.p. which among other provisions revoked public land order 5150 and unleashed american energy. for more than a decade the state state of alaska worked on this r.m.p. to revoke land order 5150 which would unlock several acres of land from the de facto management and return it to multiple use. unfortunately, the previous administration rehe versed this decision against the wishes of alaskans and finalized a new

r.m.p. that enshrined public land order 5150. on his first day in august in 2025, president trump issued executive order 14153 on unleashing alaska's extraordinary resource potential which directly called for repealing the biden administration central youkon r.m.p. and this advances president trump's executive order. why is this c.r.a. so important? revoking public land order 5150 is the first step in allowing the state of alaska to acquire lands that are critical to two essential projects, ambler road and the alaska l.n.g. pipeline. currently our adversaries have a chokehold on worldwide mineral supply chains. alaska, our 49th state, has reached deposits of 49 out of the 50 minerals on the critical minerals list. with such abundant resources in our own back yard, it should be appalling to every american the united states relies 100% on imports for 126 -- 12 of the 50

minerals on on the critical minerals list and is 50% reliant for an additional 29 minerals on the list. the smart phones that we carry around every day in our pockets contain 15 critical minerals. computers, home appliances, and batteries all rely on critical minerals. the ambler mining district? alaska is home to the largest deposits of these minerals, including copper, cobalt and zinc, just four deposits in the district alone have an estimated resource value of $26 billion. but currently there is no way to access these minerals. to do so, we need to construct ambler road. last year the biden administration denied a permit to not allow the alaskans to develop their own resources. passing this c.r.a. is the first step to acquiring the lands outright for the long term possibility of this project. accessing this road is expected

to create thousands of new jobs and produce $1.1 billion of revenue for alaska. road construction alone will create more than 350 jobs, creating economic opportunity desperately needed in rural alaska. now, keep in mind, this is only one project unlocked by this c.r.a. this c.r.a. will also help the advancement of the alaska l.n.g. pipeline project. global demand for energy is expected to double by 2050, and our domestic energy production must rise to meet that demand. with the rise of data centers and a.i. fueling this growth, it's more important than ever we produce energy here at home rather than creeding energy dominance to hostile foreign dominance like china and russia. once online, the alaska l.n.g. project will produce 8.5 billion cubic feet daily and sustain more than 10,000 jobs. through this project, alaskans will gain long term and affordable gas for home heating and industrial needs.

currently the currently the supply is uncertain -- is uncertain, and they're looking at alternate supplies including importing l.n.g. it goes against all common sense to import l.n.g. into alaska when the state is blessed with abundant resources to supply the state and beyond. in addition to providing gas to alaska, the alaska l.n.g. president trump: line will be able to export 20 million tons of l.n.g. yearly, reaching our asian allies in six days with no strategic limits. creating this pipeline is one of the most crucial steps we can take to counter china's influence in the indo-pacific. earlier this year i led a bipartisan congressional delegation to taiwan, japan and south korea. taiwan signed a letter of intent to purchase alaska l.n.g. and

both japan and south korea are deeply interested in pursuing l.n.g. from alaska and other pacific rim nations. the message we heard at each stop was universal and resounding. without certainty in the timeline these country won't be able to buy our energy. these are our allies and they desperately want to buy american. they'd much rather get their energy from the north slope than china and russia, the friends of north korea. today's c.r.a. is the first step in providing energy certain toy alaska and our allies abroad. we're taking strong, decisive action to remove barriers that prevent us accessing our minerals. by unleashing potential we're unleashing affordability to alaska and creating thousands of well-paying job, generating billions in revenue for federal land stake offers and keeping america and our allies safe from foreign adversaries. i'd like to commend

representative begas and the entire delegationnary work on this. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from colorado. mr. neguse: thank you, mr. speaker. as promised, we're back debating another congressional review act disapproval resolution. this time as was referenced, it's in regards to the resource management plan for the central yukon in the heart of alaska, over 13 million acres of public land, spore the most culturally significant landscapes in the united states. this region includes central yukon river watershed and the dalton highway corridor, areas that are vital for biodiversity and community survival. these lands are also interconnected with the gates of the arctic national park, the arctic national wildlife refuge. they are home to caribou -- to

caribou, salmon, sheep, species that alaska natives and rural communities depend on for food and culture traditions. the existing r.m.p. sets strong protections in response to declining populations of these important species. it create 3.6 million acres of critical environmental concern but i would just also mention here, because of course, the one voice we haven't heard from on the house floor are from the tribal communities impacted by the resource management plan and this particular resolution to reverse the resource management plan. these lands promote community health, support sustenance and support economies that native alaska communities align with. the current r.m.p. is a result of 10 decades of work between

tribes in the central yukon as well as the bureau of land management and other stake holders. six tribes worked as cooperating agencies in the development of this plan. now, rather than, i know i've belabored this, mr. speaker, but it merits mentioning again. rather than simply amending the resource management plan, doing the hard work required in the agency to perform the consultations necessary to then change the r.m.p., if folks have, you know, concerns. good faith concerns, about the contuses that resource management plan, that's the way to do it. instead my colleagues have chosen to use the congressional review act, a very blunt instrument and using c.r.a., unlike pursuing an administrative update, would lock out, lock out tribal en

engagement in b.l.m.'s existing processes. using the c.r.a. to overturn an r.m.p. would also ban the agency, not from issuing this resource management plan, but from issuing any resource management plan like it. that is reckless. i understand my colleagues have a disagreement with respect to the contours of the resource management plan. work through the interior department to change it. that's the way that it should be done. so there's a lot on the line. with respect to the fate of this particular c.r.a. resolution before us. i mentioned before, we are in uncharted territory. we have not -- the house has not pursued this type of vehicle to overturn resource management

plans in the past. that -- it is unprecedented. and it's important for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to recognize thegraph i have to taking this step. it's one that i would hope some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle might reconsider. so i oppose the resolution for those reasons and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arkansas. mr. westerman: i yield four minutes to the gentleman from alaska, mr. begich. mr. begich: we are in uncharted territory. we're in uncharted territory because the previous administration took us here. at the end of the day we hear from voices across america but we don't hear from the voices of the people of my home state. in the people that i have spoken with, the landowners, the alaska natives, who were not consulted by the previous administration

in the development and approval of this resource management plan. they have asked, they have stepped forward and said, we need to remove this plan. and we need to make sure that something like this does not happen again in the future. i rise today in strong support of house joint resolution 106 a resolution to overturn the bureau of land management's 2024 centralling yukon resource management plan. this locks up more than 13 million acres of land in alaska, part of a region spa span -- that spans 56 million acres in my state. the plan threatens economic opportunity and undermines national security while ignoring the needs of everyday alaskans. the plan also designated more than 3.6 million acres as critical as air -- as areas of critical environmental concern with little or in justification. the biden plan restricts access to native lands, violating

commitments made under the alaska native claims settlement act. sadly the plan also continues outdated land withdrawals that block responsible access to our nation's critical mineral resources. mr. speaker, this is not balanced. it is federal overreach ensuring that alaska's wealth stays in the ground, unavailable to people in one of america's most impoverished region. the plan also on strucks projects vital to america's future, such as the ambler road which will bring resources and critical minerals and the alaska project which will produce 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and create more than 10,000 jobs in alaska. these projects are essential to american energy security. they are essential to alaska's economic growth. and they are essential to lowering costs for america's working families. this resolution supports

president trump's commitment to unleashing alaska's extraordinary energy and resource potential. it restores balance to public land policy. ensures that we meet our commitments to alaska's native communities, and allows for opportunity in an area of my state that is desperately in need. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support house joint resolution 106, to strengthen america's energy and mineral dominance, to strengthen our economic and national security, and to keep our promises to the people of alaska. thank you and i yield back. mr. westerman: i want to point out what my colleague from alaska has done on this issue and the potential for alaska, we had the committee up there last week, a bipartisan group touring around, looking at all the many, many resources in alaska, the vast size of alaska, and burdens

the federal government has put on the state and really, i think, fallen short of living up to the promises that were made when alaska became a state. we talked about native americans and their input in the process. and i ask unanimous consent to submit to the record this letter from one group, i want to read from this this letter. doyan supports this and urges congress and the president to reject this misguided and harmful planning solution. many large tracks of land transferred to doyan under the alaska native act, it holds an ownership interest in approximately 4.65 million

acres. the land base shares approximately 3,000 miles of board we are b.l.m. lands, potentially more than any other indigenous landowner in the nation. consistent with the intent, much of the land we selected was selected for economic development potential. as we explained to b.l.m. throughout the planning process, further development of the lands within new or expanded areas of critical environmental concern and other restrictive land designations and otherwise imposing restrictions on use of surrounding lands will further complicate access to and use of the lands and potentially prevent us from fully realizing the economic and other benefits congress intended it would enjoy as a result of the settlement of aboriginal land claims. that's from the people affected on the ground by this misguided resource management plan that the previous administration put in place.

it's an honor to be here today, to be able to use the c.r.a. to hopefully reverse that plan and prevene other administrations in the future from either party for putting such ridiculous management plans in place. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. neguse: you know, the chairman read from a letter there. i'd like to read from a letter. i think the speaker might find interesting. this is from the tanana chiefs conference in opposition to this resolution. who is this conference made up of, you might ask, mr. speaker? it's made up of 37 federally recognized tribes and villages across the yukon river basin. these tribes served as cooperating agencies in the r.m.p. development process, working to ensure protection for critical salmon habitat and other interests and they endorsed the r.m.p. after

extensive consultation. they oppose this resolution. among many others. now, i do want to say, mr. speaker, it's important to recognize what this, i think the chairman if i'm not misquoting him, called, a hammer. what this hammer will do. my view is very simple. this hammer that republicans have proposed risks precluding these agencies from engaging in any type of rule make, resource and management planning, that is substantially similar to the resource management plan before us. i want to give a simple example of what that looks like in practice. -- in practice.

this resource management plan. the central yukon resource management plan, opens up 11 million acres to selection by eligible alaska native vietnam era veterans under the dingell act. so for those who are watching, the resource management plan allows, it enables, alaska natives who served our country so bravely in the vietnam war, to access upwards of 11 million acres of lands at issue. here's the problem. by passing this resolution this passing this c.r.a., it's not exactly eliminating that provision along with the other provisions in the resource management plan, it's potentially risking the ability of a future administration,

including this one, from issuing any resource plan that provides a similar benefit. what happens when a court two years from now, three years from now, five years from now rules that the republican resolution that you all are poised to pass today precludes the b.l.m. from giving any access to native vietnam era veterans in accessing this land. when we call this a blunt instrument, that's what we're referencing. so i understand. again, my colleagues disagree with the variety of different components of the resource management plan.

they are fortunate that the secretary of the interior happens to be a former governor of north dakota. i imagine if they call him, that he'll pursue reopening the resource management plan. but taking this step, for closing the ability of those alaska natives who are vietnam era veterans from being able to access these lands and precluding that benefit into perpetuity by virtue of using the c.r.a. is reckless. no other word to describe it. so i would hope my colleagues would, again, reconsider, follow the process, regular order. that's the way to pursue the changes that they seek.

and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. mr. westerman: mr. speaker, thank you. this idea alaska native vietnam era veterans can't select lands is just fact you'llly inaccurate and -- factually inaccurate and fear mongering. the veterans allotment program has been codified in 2019 and nothing repeals those requirements under the 2019 law. in fact, the house just passed a five-year extension of this program in july. to suggest year now somehow unsupportive of this program is ludicrous. congress is using the c.r.a. for this r.m.p. because there weren't enough public land order revocations, not because there were too many. keeping the withdrawal revocations for alaskan native vietnam era veterans and adding new withdrawal revocations would be entirely consistent with the

c.r.a. the argument is ironic coming from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. secretary holland unnecessarily delayed the implementation of this program for years despite its strong demands from the alaska delegation that outdated p.l.o.'s be lifted so land selections could begin. and for more on that issue, i want to yield time, two minutes, to the gentleman from alaska, who understands this better than anyone, mr. begich. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alaska is recognized for two minutes. mr. begich: mr. speaker, fewer than 20 alaska native vietnam era veterans have received their conveyances, and a big part of the reason why so few of the 2000, more than 2000 eligible vietnam era veterans or their heirs have received those lands is because they were delayed or outright blocked by the previous

administration. the previous administration blocked their ability to select and receive their lands. so to hear from my colleagues, mr. speaker, in this chamber suggesting that somehow republicans are standing in the way of vietnam era land conveyances in my home state is ludicrous and simply not true. in fact, my bill extends the availability time for them to make those selections by five years. and there's nothing in this c.r.a. that prevents them from making those selections and we hope that they do. in fact, we want more land to be available to those families. in fact, there are some communities in alaska where vietnam era veterans who are eligible in this program have to select lands hundreds of miles away from their own community, hundreds of miles away. we're trying to unlock the state of alaska, mr. speaker, and it's my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in this chamber that have repeatedly blocked our

ability to do so. thank you. and i yield back. mr. westerman: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. neguse: mr. speaker, i'm not in the predictions business. but i can confidently predict, that's why one of the reasons this exchange is so important, that this particular exchange will appear in litigation two years from now, three years from now, five years from now, 10 years from now. this is untested. the congressional review act never has been used before to repeal a resource management plan so we don't know how a federal court is going to construe this congress' decision to en masse disapprove of a resource management plan that did provide for the allotment for alaskan natives who are vietnam era veterans to access these lands. i understand the chairman is making the case here on the

floor, he made it during the debate on the rules committee, and i remember this back in july. he maintains. no, no, no, this congressional resolution is just limited to the resources of the plan, just the energy portions. that's not what the resolution says, the resolution of disapproval disapproves of the resource management plan in its entirety. i understand that the statutory provisions that provide alaskan natives with the ability, those who are vietnam era veterans, remains codified. that's not up for debate. the problem is that republicans have decided to disapprove, to use this blunt instrument of this particular allotment, or rather, access that the prior administration, as was noted, included in this resource management plan. we have no idea how a federal court is going to construe the

actions of the congress as it relates to the different component pieces in the resource management plan if and when a future administration, including this one, decides to take that step. it's one of the reasons why a congressional review act, or rather, the congress willal review act, has not been deployed in this way previously, because it's risky. i understand, my colleague from alaska seemed very upset. i don't disagree. i share his frustration. i support, by the way, the legislation that he mentioned. the legislation that he was referencing is not the bill that's before this congress. i don't quite understand the impetus behind extending the time, as he noted, to five years while you're simultaneously passing a resolution disapproving of a resource management plan that provided the very access to these lands

that you purport to wanted, but that's for him to explain. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. mr. westerman: i have no further requests for time and am prepared to close and reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is prepared to close and reserve his time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. neguse: i thank the speaker. again, not to belabor the point here, i do thinking the last exchange was instructive and revealing. i remember very well the debate that this house engaged in a mere three months ago, 2 1/2 months ago, regarding the budget bill. and the terrible cuts to medicaid that this chamber, republicans, passed and that the president signed into law. and i remember after that

legislation was signed into law several of my republican colleagues, including one republican senator in particular, bemoaning the medicaid cuts that he had just voted for. mark twain's old adage, mr. speaker, i'm sure you're familiar with it, history doesn't repeat itself but it obvious rhymes -- often rhymes. it feels a little like deja vu. because in the case of these c.r.a.'s, i have no doubt, that several of my colleagues, including several of my colleagues championing these resolutions, will find that down the road they'll regret being so vociferous in their support of the resolution of disapproval of these resource management plans when a federal court decides that the agencies, the b.l.m., the interior department at

large, can't protect, or rather enact protections in the way that it had in the past because republicans decided to use this blunt instrument. so again, for all the reasons, i think we're going on hour number two here, i believe we have another hour of debate on another resolution of disapproval that will be coming up next, for all the reasons i've articulated, i would hope my colleagues would oppose this, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. mr. westerman: mr. speaker, this c.r.a. is crucial to unleashing alaska's resources and will unleash billions of oil and natural gas and critical minerals that are critical not only to alaska's economy and security but also to the economic and energy security of the united states, and extended

further to our allies around the world. it's a very important issue, as this c.r.a. shifts land management back to alaskans and away from n.g.o.'s and environmentalists in the lower 48 who have had way too much of an oversized impact on the decisions made in alaska. it is essential to projects that will create tens of thousands of jobs, generate billions in revenue for the u.s. treasury and the state of alaska, and again, make our nation less reliant on hostile foreign nations. i commend representative begich once again for his work on this effort. he is a tremendous and fierce advocate for alaska. through his efforts, we're helping president trump and his administration advance his executive orders and usher in the golden age of american and alaska energy dominance. i urge adoption of this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. all time for debate has expired.

pursuant to house resolution 672, the previous question is ordered on the joint resolution. the question is on the engrossment and third reading of the joint resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 united states code of the rules submitted by the bureau of land management relating to central youkon record of decision and approval resource management plan. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on passage of the joint resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the joint resolution is passed. mr. neguse: mr. speaker, i'd ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on the

question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas, mr. westerman, seek recognition? mr. westerman: pursuant to house resolution 672, i call up h.j. resolution 105 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. the clerk: house joint resolution 105. joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 united states code of the rules submitted by the bureau of land management relating to north dakota field office record of decision and approval -- and approved resource management plan. the speaker pro tempore: pursuan t to resolution 672, the joint resolution is considered read. the joint resolution shall be debated for one hour equally divided and controlled by the the chair and ranking minority member of the chair of the natural resources or their

respective designees. the gentleman from arkansas, mr. westerman, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. neguse, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arkansas, mr. westerman. mr. westerman: i ask unanimous consent all members be given five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material on h.j. resolution 105. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. westerman: mr. speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. westerman: i rise in strong support of h.j. resolution 105 led by representative federallor challenge -- representative fedorchak. . . astonishingly, this r.m.p. blocked coal leasing on 96% of coal deposits inned in and blocked oil and gas leasing on

94% of federal land. ed in is the number three oil and gas producer in the nation. according to estimates,ed in produces 4 billion barrels of oil and other a million tons of lignite coal annually. it produces enough coal to heat one million homes for an entire year. u.s. electricity consumption is projected to hit an all-time high this year and electricity demand will grow by as much as 28 gigawatts through 2029 fuel fulled by new data centers and a.i. these estimates are five times higher than earlier forecast. the united states should be a leader in energy production. we have the brightest minds and we maintain the most rigorous and clean production standards in the world. yet the anti-american energy policies pursued by radical

environmentalists in the previous administration crippled communities reliant on energy job, weakened us on the global stage and enriched adversarial nations able to cash in as we took a back seat in the global energy market. the road to energy dominance meeting this growing demand runs throughed in. advancing the c.r.a. is the first step in helping to unleash american energy and reinvigorate america's beautiful coal industry as president trump has called for in his recent executive order. this c.r.a. is important not juster in people offed in, but also our collective american energy and mineral security. if you've ever worried about your electricity bill or wondered if prices at the pump may can sell a family vacation you should care about reversing ill-advised lockups of energy resource. energy production is critically important to the western way of lie, sustaining small rural communities and generating much-needed activity. passing this c.r.a. will save an

estimated 12,000 jobs inned in in the coal city alone. this c.r.a. is also crucial to prevent an estimated loss of $34 million annually in state revenues of oil and gas production. these funds are used to finance k-12 public education in the state. what does this mean for children inned in? failing to pass the -- for children in north dakota? this means fewer after school programs, outdated textbooks and more teachers having to reach into their own pockets to funds base exschoolroom spris. it should come as in surprise that the previous administration finalized this r.m.p. over the strong objections of the state of north dakota. the state's concerns were ignored. instill they plowed ahead with this r.m.p. good land management requires local buy-in and support. this r.m.p. is not supported by north dakota. the only people who support the

plan are the radical environmentalists who called the shots under the previous administration. i mend our current secretary of the interior, doug burgem. he was governor when this r.m.p. was finalized and he led the charge in opposing this biden-era preservationist plan. i have full confidence that under the leadership of president trump and secretary burgem, the b.l.m. will emerge as an agency that works for north dakotans and all those rural western americans who live closest to the lands. i applaud representative fedorchak for his work on this and her efforts on behalf of her constituents to right this wrong. i recognize senators kramer and hoeven as well as former house colleagues and good friend governor kelly armstrong for their work in supporting the c.r.a. this c.r.a. allows us to turn the page on a disgraceful chapter of radical environmental. i pursued at the expense of the

american h.j. resolution 105 removes barriers designed to prevent the use of our abundant natural resources. it will allow us to unleash the full potential of our great natural resources. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and iry serve the -- and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from colorado. mr. neguse: thank you, mr. speaker. more coal. that's their answer. more coal. again. for the third time. their answer apparently turnover question, more coal. frustrated with energy costs going up across the board state-to-state, community-to-community? more coal is their answer. health insurance costs going up, grocery prices going up, economy in freefall, more coal. i don't know what piece of legislation we're going to be debating tomorrow but i suspect it will involve coal production.

it is bordering on obsession for the house republican caucus and it would be comical if not for the real world consequences. for my constituents and for your constituents, mr. speaker. for americans across the country who are dealing with a real cost of living crisis and who expect more from this congress than yet another disapproval resolution. 10 months into the trump presidency. laser focused on passing resolutions of disapproval of agency actions by the biden administration. real sense of priorities. it's disappointing, mr. speaker. deeply disappointing. and if one digs into this particular resource management plan, i think you will find that using this blunt instrument as i've called it during our prior

debate, in this instance is probably the most insidious of all. couple of reasons why. one, the resource management plan that was adopted replaced a plan that was nearly 40 years old. this resource management plan provided a modern framework that balances responsible energy and mineral development with the protection of all life -- of wildlife habitat, water resources, cultural sites and recreational opportunities. it provides a stable and predictable framework to guide and to balance multiple uses of our public lands and resources. based on the needs of today and the future. but it's important to recognize that even if one disagrees with the way in which this resource management plan balances public land use. i understand there are good

faith disagreements with the resource management plan. the chairman mentioned our mutual good friend, my dear friend, kelly armstrong, now the governor of north dakota. i recognize we may disagree with respect to the nuances of the resource management plan. but they get the broader point here is that the c.r.a. is not the proper vehicle. for registering one's objection to a resource management plan. why is that? it's because using the c.r.a. does not return the resource management plan to the status quo. the federal land policy and management act outlines the proper process for updating a resource management plan. that's a process that centers on the voices and needs of local land users while phocaing on regulatory certainty. by contrast, the c.r.a. strips

the public out of the process. and it throws public lands into chaos. what do i mean by that, mr. speaker? here's what i mean. if congress passes this resolution, if the president signs this resolution into law, it will call into question all of the leases, all of the permits, and any other related authorizations that stem from the resource management plan. grazing permits, resource development projects, transmission rights of way? all of those leases and permits and so on will be tied up in litigation. if you pass this resolution. it makes no sense why my colleagues have chosen to take

this approach, endanger grazing permits in north dakota, when there's a much easier way to do this. because interestingly enough, mr. speaker, the secretary of the interior is the former governor of north dakota. it's true. he could simply change this. he could go through administrative fiat and modify the resource management plan for the state for which he served as chief executive. he could do that now. and it would not call into question any of the permits or the leases. but instead, house republicans have taken this approach. and i don't think it's going to achieve your stated objective. not you, mr. speaker, but my colleagues. on the other side of the aisle. their stated objective.

far from it. so again, hope my colleagues might reconsider. and you know, i don't have the secretary of interior's phone number. but i suspect my colleagues do. so they can call him. i'm sure they can get this worked out. and we can save you, mr. speaker, and you know, the few americans watching on c-span, this stale debate over yet another resolution of disapproval. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. mr. westerman: mr. speaker, what is ironic is the fact that secretary burguh, when he was governor, opposed this plan, but the prior administration brushed him off. they didn't care what he thought or what the people of north dakota thought, like they didn't care what the governor montana,

or the governor of alaska thought or the people of montana or alaska. all they cared is what people in los angeles thought about lands in faraway rural places and how they wanted to impose their will on what happens in these rural areas where our resources abound. isn't it ironic that the three states we're talking about these research management plans are alaska, montana, and north dakota? states with very large land masses, with abundant resources, and not a lot of people. that's the definition of rural america. the previous administration was attacking rural america, they used these misguided resource management plans as their tool to do that. with that, i yield four minutes to the gentlelady from north dakota, the lead sponsor of this legislation, the only representative from north dakota, mrs. fedorchak. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized.

mrs. fedorchak: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. westerman, chairman, thank you for your lead cher -- leadership on this issue and all energy-related issues, you're providing a great service to our conference and the country. thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of my resolution to repeal the biden administration's bureau of land management resource management plan for north dakota. but first, let me respond briefly to my colleague from colorado's comments about energy costs. his constituents, the dear people of colorado, and many other constituents in blue states like new york and california, probably are paying record prices for electricity and other energy products. but it's because of their very own states' unrealistic and radical energy policies. i promise you, in north dakota, citizens are in the paying record prices. in fact, they're paying the

lowest prices of any other state for electricity. and i know this because for the last 12 years, i helped set those policies. and changing these policies so that the rest of america could also pay lower energy prices was one of the driving forces of my running for this office. in my state, energy production isn't a political debate. it's our way of life. it provides paychecks that feed our families, revenue that funds our schools, and power that keeps america moving forward. but unfortunately, president biden in his very last week of office, chose to put special interests above all of that. north dakotans saw the biden administration's plan for exactly what it was. a back door attempt to shut down fossil fuels in our state. that's why our state immediately

filed a lawsuit against the previous administration. as our filing made clear, and i quote, the amended r.m.p. resource management plan is not only unlawful, and unwise, but it is also emblematic of everything that was wrong with the prior administration's approach to cooperative federalism. amen. and that's exactly why we are here. the truth is, because of the checker board nature of federal land and minerals across our state, this plan would cost vast amounts of north dakota lands to lose production on vast -- could cause us to lose production on vast amounts of north dakota lands on oil, gas, and coal leases and future development. in fact it would lock up nearly 99% of north dakota's federal coal acreage, more than four million acres. it would also block nea